The Giant Review: Naseem Hamed Biopic Featuring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Impact

This film boasts a talented ensemble, depicting the real-life tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Yemeni migrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. The trainer cultivated his showboating arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan plays Ingle; El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the assertive promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial story in between is consistently dull and monotonous. There is no subtlety or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his role truly engaging – although he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, expositional dialogue that tell you exactly what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at age seven …”). It is the kind of script that digital producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the movie but also checking your device. And, the score is overpowering, at times almost deafening, especially in the moment where Hamed gets too excited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently anticlimactically cut short. A key scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the ending? Certainly the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. Brosnan elicits humor when his character tells a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer fidgets at the silly stunts Ingle makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being worsened by a tell-all publication that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly imagined final conversation – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his death is merely mentioned in the closing credits, and not shown on film. Some engaging content here, but the blows fail to connect.

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