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The movie features a impressive ensemble, depicting the true tale of coach Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir 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.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the movie honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important story in between is repeatedly flat and one-note. It lacks subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed 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 really interesting – even though he’s clearly been training and appears convincing in the ring.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by utilitarian, expositional lines that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your career at seven years old …”). It is the sort of script that streaming-TV executives call “double-screen”, making sure you know what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your device. And, the background music is overbearing, at times nearly overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets too excited visiting the promoter in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important scene is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually offers to get in the ring and box him. All present in the room is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the rift, the film shows this as being exacerbated by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point evidently adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the emotional tribute that Hamed is supposed to have paid to his mentor after his passing is merely mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. There is interesting material 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.