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The movie boasts a talented cast, depicting the true tale of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and making him a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the film frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial drama between them is repeatedly dull and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s obviously been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). This is the kind of script that digital producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your device. And, the background music is overpowering, sometimes almost deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often disappointingly truncated. A key moment is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely unwise confrontation going to play out? What will be the ending? Certainly the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a plot point clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his passing is only referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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