Giant Film Analysis: Prince Naseem Biopic Starring Pierce Brosnan Misses the Punch

The movie features a talented cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Stephens is the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film honestly lacks the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important story between them is consistently flat and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to display any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overpowering, at times nearly overwhelming, especially in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his palatial residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all publication that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to his mentor after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. Some interesting material here, but the punches don’t land.

The film was shown at the festival and is available in British and Irish theaters from 9 January.