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The movie boasts a impressive cast, depicting the real-life tale of coach Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire teenager from Middle Eastern migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, Hamed turned against his coach, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

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

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the all-important drama in between is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often burdened by utilitarian, expositional lines that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the sort of script that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overbearing, at times almost deafening, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets too excited visiting the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

Although the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship never really ignites, and the major boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to get in the ring and box him. Everyone in the room is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when his character informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have given to his mentor after his death is only referenced in the end titles, and not shown on screen. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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