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The movie features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of Irish boxing trainer Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the crucial drama in between is consistently dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is often burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). It is the sort of script that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overbearing, at times nearly overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their considerable utmost, their relationship never really ignites, and the major fight scenes are frequently disappointingly cut short. A key moment is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, the trainer actually offers to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely unwise confrontation going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when his character informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that the trainer is allegedly written (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his passing is only mentioned in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. Some interesting material in this film, but the blows don’t land.

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