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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Yemeni migrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish London promoter Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important story in between is consistently flat and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overbearing, at times almost deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically truncated. A key scene is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a story element clearly modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing is only referenced in the end titles, and not shown on film. There is engaging content here, but the blows fail to connect.

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