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The movie features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

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

Film’s Shortcomings

However, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly dull and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often lumbered with functional, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the major fight scenes are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this extremely unwise standoff going to unfold? What will be the ending? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. The actor gets laughs when his character tells a journalist what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a story element clearly modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not shown on film. Some engaging content here, but the blows don’t land.

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