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The movie features a impressive ensemble, telling the true story of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Yemeni immigrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly misses the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama between them is consistently flat and one-note. There is no nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the opportunity to show 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 boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). It is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important moment is surely when, goaded beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content here, but the punches fail to connect.

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