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This film features a impressive cast, depicting the true story of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens is the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the film frankly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“You started your career at seven years old …”). It is the sort of script that streaming-TV producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the score is overpowering, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to reject bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all publication that the trainer is supposed to have written (a plot point evidently modified from another source), 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 merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. There is engaging content here, but the blows don’t land.

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