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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the true story of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating confidence and powerful punches, 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

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

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie honestly lacks the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial drama between them is consistently flat and one-note. It lacks nuance or light and shade 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 training and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly burdened by functional, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital executives call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also checking your phone. And, the background music is overpowering, at times almost overwhelming, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their relationship never really comes to life, and the major fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that Ingle is allegedly written (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although 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 shown on film. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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