The Giant Film Analysis: Prince Naseem Biopic Starring Brosnan Lacks the Punch

This film boasts a impressive cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront prejudice and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to display any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly burdened by functional, expositional lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). It is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets too excited visiting the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. A key moment is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “old man”, the trainer in fact proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when his character informs a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing publication that the trainer is allegedly written (a plot point evidently modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his death is merely mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. There is engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

The film screened at the festival and is available in UK and Irish cinemas from January 9.