Giant Film Analysis: Naseem Hamed Movie Starring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Impact

This film features a talented cast, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It 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 phone. And, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major fight scenes are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key moment is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact offers to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the Prince 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 are no some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when his character tells a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a revealing publication that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have given to his mentor after his death is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content here, but the punches fail to connect.

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