Giant Film Analysis: Prince Naseem Movie Featuring Brosnan Misses the Impact

This film boasts a talented cast, depicting the real-life tale of coach Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

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

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important story in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, expositional lines that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the sort of dialogue that digital producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your phone. And, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited calling on the promoter in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often disappointingly truncated. A key moment is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and box him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the outcome? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. The actor gets laughs when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have given to Ingle after his passing is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on film. There is engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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