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The movie features a impressive ensemble, depicting the true story of coach Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to stand up to prejudice and molded into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film honestly lacks the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly dull and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of the protagonist 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 working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of dialogue that digital executives call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also checking your phone. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While the leads do their very utmost, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is shocked 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? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to oppose bias and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when the boxer fidgets at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a story element clearly modified from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly given to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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