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This film boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Yemeni immigrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed betrayed his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Stephens is the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important drama in between is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks nuance or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). It is the sort of script that digital executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their relationship never really ignites, and the major fight scenes are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually offers to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to reject bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like 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 allegedly written (a plot point clearly adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. Some interesting material in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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