Giant Film Analysis: Naseem Hamed Biopic Featuring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Punch

The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the real-life tale of coach Ingle, who guided a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern immigrant family. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was coached to confront racist bullies and molded into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays Ingle; El-Masry embodies the part of the prince, and Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important story between them is consistently flat and monotonous. There is no nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s obviously been training and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, expositional dialogue that tell you precisely what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the kind of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re viewing the film but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overbearing, at times nearly overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited calling on the promoter in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship doesn’t quite ignites, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. A key scene is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, the trainer in fact offers to step into the ring and box him. Everyone in the gym is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely unwise standoff going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his local community: to oppose bias and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the bollocks”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

Regarding the rift, the film depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that the trainer is allegedly authored (a plot point evidently modified from another source), and there is an intriguingly imagined last discussion – however the emotional tribute that Hamed is reportedly paid to his mentor after his death is only referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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