Giant Review: Prince Naseem Movie Starring Brosnan Misses the Impact

The movie features a talented cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to confront prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, excluding him and making him a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens is the bullish promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important story between them is consistently dull and monotonous. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the sort of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also checking your device. And, the score is overpowering, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the movie shows this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that Ingle is allegedly written (a story element evidently adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. Some interesting material here, but the blows don’t land.

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