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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni migrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the bullish London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important drama in between is repeatedly dull and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also checking your phone. And, the score is overpowering, at times almost overwhelming, especially in the scene where Hamed gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their very best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often anticlimactically cut short. A key moment is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when his character informs a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point evidently adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

Giant screened at the festival and is in UK and Irish theaters from January 9.