The Giant Review: Naseem Hamed Movie Starring Pierce Brosnan Lacks the Impact

The movie boasts a talented ensemble, telling the real-life story of coach Ingle, who guided a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni migrant parents. Known as “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and molded into a media-friendly titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his showboating arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer turned against his mentor, excluding him and turning him into a blend of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens appears as the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who saw the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s agility: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the crucial drama between them is consistently dull and monotonous. It lacks nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the opportunity to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at seven years old …”). It is the kind of script that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you know what’s unfolding while you’re watching the movie but also checking your device. And, the score is overpowering, sometimes nearly overwhelming, particularly in the scene where Hamed gets too excited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are frequently disappointingly cut short. The most important moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “old man”, the trainer actually offers to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the gym is shocked and uneasy. How exactly is this extremely risky confrontation going to unfold? What will be 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 aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a paedophile, “Hit them in the bollocks”. It’s funny too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the Middle East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the movie shows this as being exacerbated by a tell-all book that the trainer is supposed to have written (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to his mentor after his passing is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the punches don’t land.

Giant was shown at the festival and is in UK and Irish cinemas from January 9.