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This film boasts a talented cast, depicting the real-life tale of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a brash Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern immigrant parents. Dubbed Naseem Hamed, the youngster was taught to stand up to racist bullies and transformed into a celebrity titleholder in the late 90s. Ingle nurtured his flamboyant confidence and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer betrayed his coach, excluding him and making him a mix of Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Performers and Roles

Pierce Brosnan plays the trainer; El-Masry embodies the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens appears as the assertive London promoter Warren, who saw the potential that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film frankly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences run smoothly, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly flat and monotonous. There is no nuance or contrast in the depiction of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, doesn’t get the opportunity to display any subtlety or much of what might make his role really interesting – even though he’s clearly been working out and appears convincing in the boxing arena.

Problems with Script and Sound

The story is repeatedly lumbered with functional, explanatory dialogue that inform you precisely what is going on and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your career at age seven …”). It is the kind 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 phone. And, the score is overbearing, at times nearly overwhelming, especially in the moment where the boxer gets too excited calling on Warren in his luxurious residence.

Performances and Key Moments

While El-Masry and Brosnan do their very utmost, their relationship never really ignites, and the big set-piece fight scenes are often disappointingly truncated. A key moment is certainly when, goaded beyond endurance in the training facility one day by Hamed as a misguided “old man”, the trainer in fact proposes to get in the ring and fight him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. How exactly is this extremely risky standoff going to play out? What will be the ending? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Alternatively will he emotionally hold back? It’s not clear.

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 oppose bias and when you meet a paedophile, “Punch him in the groin”. It’s funny too when the boxer squirms at the silly stunts the coach makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

As for the falling out, the film shows this as being worsened by a tell-all book that Ingle is allegedly written (a plot point clearly adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined final conversation – however the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his death is only referenced in the closing credits, and not shown on screen. Some interesting material in this film, but the punches fail to connect.

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