The Giant Review: Prince Naseem Biopic Featuring Brosnan Misses the Impact
The movie boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield youth from Middle Eastern migrant family. Dubbed “Prince” Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the late 90s. The trainer nurtured his showboating confidence and lethal fists, but after becoming rich, Hamed turned against his mentor, cutting him out and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.
Cast and Characters
Brosnan portrays the trainer; Amir El-Masry takes on the part of the prince, and Toby Stephens is the assertive London promoter Warren, who saw the goldmine that Ingle had discovered.
Film’s Shortcomings
However, the movie honestly misses the fighter’s fancy footwork: the fight scenes flow well, but the crucial drama in between is repeatedly dull and monotonous. There is no nuance or light and shade in the depiction of Hamed himself, and El-Masry, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to display any subtlety or much of what might make his character truly engaging – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the boxing arena.
Problems with Script and Sound
The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory dialogue that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). This is the sort of dialogue that streaming-TV producers call “double-screen”, making sure you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the movie but also checking your device. And, the score is overpowering, sometimes almost overwhelming, particularly in the moment where the boxer gets overexcited visiting Warren in his luxurious home.
Performances and Key Moments
Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their very best, their dynamic doesn’t quite comes to life, and the major boxing moments are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is surely when, provoked beyond endurance in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer actually offers to get in the ring and fight him. Everyone in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely risky confrontation going to play out? What will be the outcome? Surely the champion is going to defeat him? Alternatively will he sentimentally pull his punches? The resolution remains ambiguous.
Bright Spots and Comedy
That’s not to say that there are no some nice jabs. The actor elicits humor when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s instructing the youths from his neighborhood: to reject prejudice and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the bollocks”. Amusing too when Hamed squirms at the ridiculous stunts the coach makes him do in the beginning: acting like the “monster from the East”.
Storyline and Final Thoughts
Regarding the falling out, the movie shows this as being exacerbated by a revealing publication that Ingle is supposed to have written (a plot point clearly adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly conceived last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is reportedly given to Ingle after his passing 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 UK and Irish theaters from January 9.