Giant Review: Prince Naseem Movie Featuring Brosnan Misses the Impact

The movie features a impressive ensemble, depicting the true tale of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial story in between is consistently flat and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, expositional lines that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“You started your career at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that digital producers call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the score is overbearing, at times almost deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key moment is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, Ingle in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element evidently adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to his mentor after his death is merely referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. There is interesting material here, but the punches fail to connect.

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