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This film features a impressive cast, telling the real-life story of coach Brendan Ingle, who mentored a cheeky Sheffield teenager from Middle Eastern migrant family. Known as Naseem Hamed, the fighter was coached to confront prejudice and transformed into a celebrity world champion in the 1990s. Ingle cultivated his flamboyant arrogance and powerful punches, but after achieving wealth, the boxer turned against his mentor, cutting him out and turning him into a blend of John Falstaff and Danny Rose.

Cast and Characters

Brosnan portrays Ingle; Amir El-Masry embodies the part of Hamed, and Stephens is the bullish promoter Frank Warren, who saw the goldmine that the coach had uncovered.

Where the Movie Falls Short

Yet, the film honestly lacks the fighter’s fancy footwork: the boxing sequences flow well, but the all-important drama between them is repeatedly dull and one-note. There is no nuance or light and shade in the portrayal of Hamed himself, and the actor, an otherwise outstanding performer, isn’t given the chance to display any depth or much of what might make his character really interesting – although he’s clearly been working out and looks very plausible in the ring.

Problems with Script and Sound

The drama is often burdened by utilitarian, explanatory lines that tell you exactly what is happening and what we are supposed to be thinking (“You started your boxing journey at seven years old …”). It is the sort of script that digital executives call “double-screen”, ensuring you understand what’s unfolding while you’re watching the movie but also glancing at your phone. Additionally, the score is overpowering, at times nearly deafening, particularly in the scene where the boxer gets overexcited calling on Warren in his palatial home.

Performances and Key Moments

While the leads do their very best, their dynamic never really comes to life, and the major boxing moments are often anticlimactically truncated. The most important scene is certainly when, provoked beyond endurance in the gym one day by Hamed as a misguided “elder”, Ingle actually offers to step into the ring and box him. All present in the gym is stunned and uneasy. How exactly is this insanely unwise confrontation going to unfold? What will be the outcome? Surely the Prince is going to kill him? Or will he sentimentally pull his punches? It’s not clear.

Bright Spots and Comedy

This isn’t to imply that there are no some good moments. Brosnan gets laughs when Ingle informs a reporter what he’s teaching the youths from his local community: to reject prejudice and when you meet a offender, “Punch him in the groin”. Amusing too when the boxer squirms at the ridiculous stunts Ingle makes him do in the early days: acting like the “beast from the East”.

Storyline and Final Thoughts

Regarding the rift, the movie depicts this as being exacerbated by a tell-all publication that Ingle is supposed to have authored (a story element clearly adapted from another source), and there is an interestingly imagined last discussion – although the heartfelt homage that the boxer is supposed to have given to Ingle after his death is only mentioned in the end titles, and not shown on film. There is interesting material in this film, but the blows fail to connect.

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