🔗 Share this article The Giant Film Analysis: Naseem Hamed Biopic Featuring Pierce Brosnan Misses the Impact This film features a impressive ensemble, depicting the true tale of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront prejudice and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his mentor, cutting him out and making him a blend of Falstaff and Danny Rose. Cast and Characters Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Stephens is the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered. Where the Movie Falls Short Yet, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is consistently flat and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to show any subtlety or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena. Dialogue and Music Issues The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your career at age seven …”). This is the kind of script that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes almost deafening, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets too excited calling on the promoter in his palatial residence. Acting and Pivotal Scenes Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their dynamic doesn’t quite ignites, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important scene is surely when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky confrontation going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Certainly the Prince is going to defeat him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous. Bright Spots and Comedy This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. The actor gets laughs when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer fidgets at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the East”. Plot and Conclusion Regarding the falling out, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that Ingle is allegedly authored (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is reportedly paid to his mentor after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is interesting material in this film, but the punches don’t land. Giant screened at the festival and is in UK and Irish cinemas from January 9.