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This film boasts a impressive cast, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and making him a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Warren, who recognized the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama in between is consistently dull and monotonous. There is no nuance or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overpowering, at times almost deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding 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 clearly modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the blows don’t land.

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