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This film features a talented cast, depicting the true tale of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Yorkshire youth from Yemeni migrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, Hamed turned against his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the role of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the bullish London promoter Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had discovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie honestly misses the Prince’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial drama between them is consistently flat and monotonous. It lacks subtlety or contrast in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s obviously been training and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.

Dialogue and Music Issues

The story is repeatedly burdened by functional, expositional lines that tell you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the sort of dialogue that digital executives call “second-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. And, the score is overbearing, at times nearly overwhelming, especially in the scene where the boxer gets too excited visiting the promoter in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. A key moment is certainly when, goaded past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually proposes to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely unwise standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Highlights and Humor

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan gets laughs when his character tells a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his local community: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when Hamed fidgets 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 movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing publication that Ingle is allegedly authored (a story element clearly adapted from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to his mentor after his death is merely referenced in the end titles, and not dramatised on film. Some engaging content in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

Giant screened at the London film festival and is available in British and Irish cinemas from January 9.