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The movie features a impressive cast, depicting the true story of Irish boxing trainer Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield youth from Yemeni migrant family. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, Hamed betrayed his coach, cutting him out and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; Amir El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Stephens is the assertive promoter Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important story between them is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his role really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The drama is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory lines that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of script that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also checking your device. Additionally, the score is overbearing, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship never really ignites, and the major fight scenes are often anticlimactically cut short. The most important scene is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually proposes to step into the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely unwise confrontation going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he sentimentally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a journalist what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the Middle East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the falling out, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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