🔗 Share this article

This film boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire youth from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, excluding him and making him a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly misses the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly dull and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with functional, explanatory lines that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overbearing, at times almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited calling on the promoter in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that the trainer is allegedly written (a story element clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. Some interesting material here, but the punches don’t land.

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