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The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire teenager from Yemeni immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to confront prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his mentor, excluding him and making him a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the bullish London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

However, the movie frankly lacks the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial drama between them is consistently dull and one-note. There is no subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is often lumbered with functional, explanatory lines that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“Your journey began your boxing journey at age seven …”). This is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overbearing, sometimes nearly deafening, especially in the scene where Hamed gets too excited visiting the promoter in his palatial residence.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although the leads do their very utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “old man”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the room is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely risky confrontation going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being worsened by a tell-all book that the trainer is supposed to have written (a story element evidently modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. Some interesting material in this film, but the punches don’t land.

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