🔗 Share this article The Giant Film Analysis: Naseem Hamed Movie Starring Brosnan Misses the Impact This film boasts a talented ensemble, depicting the real-life tale of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield teenager from Yemeni immigrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and 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 Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had uncovered. Where the Movie Falls Short Yet, the film frankly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important drama in between is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no subtlety or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given 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. Problems with Script and Sound The drama is repeatedly burdened by functional, expositional dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“Your journey began your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of dialogue that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your phone. And, the background music is overbearing, at times nearly deafening, especially in the moment where the boxer gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial residence. Acting and Pivotal Scenes Although the leads do their considerable best, their relationship never really comes to life, and the big set-piece boxing moments are often anticlimactically cut short. A key moment is surely when, goaded past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a delusional “elder”, Ingle actually offers to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is stunned and uncomfortable. How exactly is this insanely risky standoff going to play out? How precisely the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Or will he emotionally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous. Highlights and Humor This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some nice jabs. The actor gets laughs when Ingle tells a reporter what he’s teaching the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when Hamed fidgets at the silly antics the coach makes him do in the early days: acting like the “monster from the Middle East”. Storyline and Final Thoughts Regarding the rift, the movie shows this as being exacerbated by a tell-all publication that the trainer is supposed to have written (a plot point evidently adapted from another source), and there is an intriguingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that Hamed is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows don’t land. Giant was shown at the London film festival and is available in British and Irish theaters from January 9.