Giant Film Analysis: Prince Naseem Movie Featuring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Impact
The movie boasts a impressive cast, telling the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.
Performers and Roles
Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that Ingle had discovered.
Film’s Shortcomings
Yet, the film honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important story in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.
Dialogue and Music Issues
The drama is repeatedly burdened by functional, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). It is the kind of dialogue that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your phone. And, the score is overbearing, at times almost overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his palatial residence.
Performances and Key Moments
Although the leads do their very best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, Ingle actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely risky standoff going to play out? What will be the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.
Bright Spots and Comedy
That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the East”.
Plot and Conclusion
As for the rift, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point clearly modified from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content here, but the blows fail to connect.
Giant was shown at the London film festival and is available in UK and Irish theaters from January 9.