The Giant Film Analysis: Naseem Hamed Movie Featuring Brosnan Lacks the Punch

This film features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Ingle, who mentored a brash Sheffield youth from Yemeni immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to confront racist bullies and transformed into a media-friendly world champion in the late 90s. The trainer cultivated his flamboyant arrogance and lethal fists, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Stephens appears as the bullish London promoter Frank Warren, who recognized the potential that Ingle had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film honestly misses the Prince’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes run smoothly, but the crucial story between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. It lacks nuance or contrast in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, isn’t given the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character truly engaging – even though he’s obviously been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you precisely what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, making sure you know what’s unfolding while you’re watching the film but also glancing at your device. And, the background music is overbearing, sometimes nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited visiting the promoter in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their considerable best, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often disappointingly cut short. A key moment is certainly when, provoked past his limit in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, the trainer actually proposes to get in the ring and box him. All present in the room is stunned and uneasy. In what way is this extremely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there aren’t some good moments. The actor elicits humor when his character tells a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous antics Ingle makes him do in the beginning: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Plot and Conclusion

As for the rift, the movie shows this as being worsened by a revealing book that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a plot point evidently adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his death is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on film. Some interesting material here, but the blows don’t land.

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