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This film boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays the trainer; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that digital producers call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable best, their dynamic never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a plot point evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his death is merely mentioned in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. There is interesting material here, but the punches fail to connect.

Giant screened at the festival and is in British and Irish cinemas from January 9.