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This film boasts a impressive ensemble, depicting the true story of coach Brendan Ingle, who guided a cheeky Yorkshire youth from Middle Eastern immigrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was taught to stand up to prejudice and transformed into a media-friendly titleholder in the 1990s. The trainer nurtured his showboating confidence and powerful punches, but after becoming rich, Hamed betrayed his coach, cutting him out and turning him into a mix of John Falstaff and Broadway Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Pierce Brosnan portrays the trainer; El-Masry takes on the part of Hamed, and Toby Stephens is the bullish promoter Warren, who recognized the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Film’s Shortcomings

Yet, the movie frankly lacks the fighter’s agility: the fight scenes flow well, but the all-important drama between them is consistently dull and one-note. There is no nuance or contrast in the portrayal of the protagonist himself, and the actor, an otherwise excellent talent, doesn’t get the chance to show any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – even though he’s obviously been working out and appears convincing in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often lumbered with utilitarian, explanatory lines that inform you exactly what is happening and what we are meant to feel (“You started your boxing journey at age seven …”). It is the kind of dialogue that digital producers call “second-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s going on while you’re viewing the film but also checking your phone. Additionally, the background music is overpowering, at times almost deafening, particularly in the moment where Hamed gets too excited visiting Warren in his palatial home.

Acting and Pivotal Scenes

Although El-Masry and Brosnan do their considerable utmost, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the big set-piece fight scenes are frequently disappointingly truncated. The most important moment is surely when, provoked past his limit in the training facility one day by the boxer as a delusional “elder”, the trainer in fact proposes to step into the ring and fight him. All present in the room is shocked and uncomfortable. In what way is this insanely unwise standoff going to unfold? How precisely the ending? Surely the champion is going to kill him? Or will he emotionally hold back? The resolution remains ambiguous.

Highlights and Humor

That’s not to say that there aren’t some nice jabs. Brosnan elicits humor when his character informs a reporter what he’s instructing the kids from his neighborhood: to oppose bias and when you encounter a offender, “Hit them in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the silly antics Ingle makes him do in the early days: posing as the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the falling out, the film depicts this as being worsened by a revealing publication that the trainer is supposed to have authored (a story element evidently modified from prior material), and there is an intriguingly conceived final conversation – however the emotional tribute that the boxer is supposed to have paid to Ingle after his passing is only mentioned in the closing credits, and not dramatised on screen. There is engaging content here, but the punches don’t land.

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