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This film features a impressive cast, depicting the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront prejudice and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

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

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film frankly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly flat and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the movie but also checking your phone. Additionally, the score is overpowering, at times almost overwhelming, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently anticlimactically cut short. The most important scene is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually offers to step into the ring and box him. All present in the room is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the ending? Surely 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 are no some good moments. The actor gets laughs when his character tells a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that the trainer is allegedly written (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his passing is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. There is interesting material here, but the punches don’t land.

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