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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the true story of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the film honestly misses the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important story in between is consistently flat and monotonous. There is no nuance or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often burdened by functional, expositional lines that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the kind of dialogue that digital executives call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also checking your phone. And, the score is overbearing, at times nearly deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, Ingle in fact offers to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? 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 nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the movie depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that the trainer is supposed to have written (a plot point evidently adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content here, but the punches fail to connect.

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