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The movie features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial story in between is consistently flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, expositional dialogue 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 dialogue that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable best, their relationship never really ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important scene is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely risky confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to Ingle after his death is only mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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