"There's a really good cast here, in a movie with a real-life story to tell: how Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle mentored a cheeky Sheffield kid from migrant Yemeni parents, Prince Naseem Hamed, teaching him to stand up to racist bullies and turning him into a media-friendly world champ in the late 90s, nurturing his showboating arrogance and his lethal fists."
"But, after becoming wealthy, Hamed brattishly turned against Ingle, cutting him out of the action, and turning him into a combination of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose. Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry is Hamed and Toby Stephens is bullish London promoter Frank Warren who saw the goldmine that Ingle had discovered. But the movie frankly lacks the Prince's fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and one-note."
The film features a strong cast portraying real-life figures: Brendan Ingle, Prince Naseem Hamed, and promoter Frank Warren. Brendan Ingle mentors Hamed from a Yemeni migrant background, teaching him to face racist bullies and crafting him into a flashy, world champion fighter. Hamed later becomes wealthy and severs ties with Ingle, adopting brattish arrogance. Boxing sequences are smooth and actors look authentic in the ring. Dramatic scenes between Ingle and Hamed lack nuance and emotional depth. Dialogue is often expositional and bluntly instructive. Background music is overbearing in key moments, and some set-piece fights feel truncated.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]