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

This film boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to display any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost deafening, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often disappointingly cut short. A key scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the gym is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this insanely risky confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly given to his mentor after his death is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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