Giant review: Solid but familiar sports drama
Sylvester Stallone, who is synonymous with the boxing genre thanks to Rocky, has given Giant his seal of approval by coming on board as an executive producer. To have him endorse a completely different boxing movie is a huge vote of confidence, and Giant totally deserves it.
The film, written and directed by Rowan Athale, tells the story of British professional boxer Prince Naseem ‘Naz’ Hamed, who was discovered by Irish trainer Brendan Ingle (Pierce Brosnan) at the age of seven in 1980s Sheffield, where he and his family were subjected to racist abuse. After Naz starts boxing professionally, he rapidly rises up the ranks and wins championships, money and fame, and this success causes tension in his partnership with Ingle.
Giant tells a tale as old as time – the young protege finds success, gets too big for their boots and thinks they’re better than their mentor. Naz (played by Amir El-Masry) becomes sick of sharing the limelight with Ingle and thinks Ingle is trying to take away from his talent by boasting about discovering him and taking credit for his success. They start to resent each other, and this friction between them is the most interesting aspect of the film.
El-Masry, although he doesn’t look much like the real Naz, does a great job of depicting the cocky showboat, who was famous for goading his opponents in the ring. He has a massive chip on his shoulder and nothing seems to make him happy. The boys who play the younger Naz – Ali Saleh and Ghaith Saleh – are also a delight as the overconfident braggers who often rub people up the wrong way. Despite the iffy accent, Brosnan is solid as the trainer who takes Naz in and gives him a chance, and feels hurt by how he treats him once he tastes glory.
Giant tells an interesting story, even if it feels relatively conventional and familiar as a sports biopic.
In cinemas from Friday 9th January