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This film features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to prejudice and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often burdened by functional, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, at times almost deafening, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on Warren in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship never really ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, Ingle in fact proposes to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when his character informs a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that the trainer is allegedly written (a story element clearly modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have given to his mentor after his death is merely referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. There is interesting material in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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