🔗 Share this article Giant Review: Naseem Hamed Biopic Featuring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Punch This film features a talented cast, telling the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose. Cast and Characters Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had uncovered. Film’s Shortcomings Yet, the film frankly lacks the Prince’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the ring. Dialogue and Music Issues The story is often burdened by functional, expositional lines that inform you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also checking your device. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets overexcited visiting Warren in his palatial home. Performances and Key Moments While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often disappointingly truncated. The most important scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous. Highlights and Humor That’s not to say that there are no some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”. Plot and Conclusion Regarding the falling out, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently modified from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect. The film was shown at the London film festival and is available in UK and Irish cinemas from January 9.