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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the true story of coach Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama between them is consistently dull and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, expositional dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically truncated. A key moment is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely risky standoff going to play out? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to oppose bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is allegedly written (a plot point clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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