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The movie boasts a talented ensemble, telling the real-life story of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens is the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important story between them is consistently dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance 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 ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at seven years old …”). It is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your phone. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, at times almost deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically cut short. A key moment is surely when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some interesting material in this film, but the blows don’t land.

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