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The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, telling the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield youth from Yemeni immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the role of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the film frankly misses the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly dull and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to display any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is often burdened by utilitarian, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the score 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

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “old man”, the trainer in fact offers to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely risky standoff going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to oppose bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is allegedly authored (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his passing is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. There is interesting material in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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