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This film features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the movie honestly misses the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly dull and monotonous. It lacks nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often lumbered with functional, explanatory lines that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“You started your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your phone. And, the score is overbearing, at times almost deafening, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, Ingle in fact proposes to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to reject bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is merely referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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