Giant Review: Prince Naseem Movie Starring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Punch

The movie features a impressive cast, depicting the true tale of coach Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Yemeni migrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film frankly lacks the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama between them is consistently dull and monotonous. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is repeatedly burdened by functional, explanatory lines that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, at times almost overwhelming, especially in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often disappointingly cut short. The most important scene is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point evidently modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to his mentor after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content here, but the blows don’t land.

Giant was shown at the London film festival and is available in British and Irish cinemas from January 9.