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The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the real-life tale of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the assertive London promoter Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie frankly misses the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the depiction 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 character really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at seven years old …”). This is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also checking your phone. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes nearly overwhelming, especially in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major fight scenes are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key 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 fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

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 instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the film shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is allegedly written (a story element clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his passing is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. There is interesting material in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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