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The movie features a talented cast, telling the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the film honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly flat and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of script that digital executives call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also checking your phone. And, the background music is overpowering, at times almost overwhelming, especially in the scene where Hamed gets too excited calling on the promoter in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often anticlimactically cut short. A key moment is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to Ingle after his death is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

The film was shown at the London film festival and is available in UK and Irish theaters from 9 January.