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This film boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the true story of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, Hamed turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly misses the Prince’s agility: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama in between is consistently dull and one-note. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, 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 sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the background music is overbearing, at times nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer actually proposes to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the gym is shocked and uneasy. In what way is this extremely risky standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when his character informs a journalist what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly modified from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his death is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on screen. Some interesting material here, but the blows fail to connect.

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