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This film features a talented cast, depicting the true story of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront prejudice and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Stephens is the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly burdened by functional, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). This is the sort of script that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, sometimes nearly deafening, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his palatial residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable utmost, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the major fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his death is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

The film screened at the London film festival and is in British and Irish theaters from 9 January.