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The movie boasts a impressive cast, telling the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, excluding him and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Stephens is the bullish promoter Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s agility: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial story in between is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overpowering, at times almost deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited visiting the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. A key moment is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to reject bias and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that Ingle is allegedly authored (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content here, but the blows don’t land.

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