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The movie features a talented cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Yemeni immigrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the part of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important story in between is consistently flat and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to display any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also checking your phone. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important moment is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing publication that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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