Giant

Saw it at the premier.

An ok film elevated by Pierce Brosnan's performance, which was totally mesmerising, you won't be able to take your eyes off him in any scene he's in.

He plays Brendan Ingle, Naseem Hamed's trainer, and is the focus of the film. The portrayal of Naseem himself is very one dimensional - so don't go into the film thinking it's about him; it isn't; it's about Ingle. The nuances of Hamed's journey from his perspective are almost completely absent, and having met him and watched a lot of interviews with him over the years I feel there's another story to tell there, particularly what he really thought of boxing, the injuries and sheer physical and mental demand, and having to craft a persona that wasn't really who he was as he grew into maturity.

That said, it's a heart warming film, a true story of success against impossible odds; the journey of a pair of totally out of the ordinary characters making it in a changing world, which first expected them to fail and then put an insatiable demand for entertainment on them.

Some of the exposition scenes were a little too obvious and the same applies to the script: by the numbers life in the UK through the 80s and 90s; but the young Naseem was great, the rest of the cast did a terrific job.

Worth watching, but again bear in mind it's one side of the story.

Just watched a preview screening for Giant. First time I've ever seen the whole audience enthusiastically clapping at the end of a film. Story was great, action was brutal, it was funny and uncomfortably honest at times too. Made a grown man cry in a manly way as well. Just a tad. You won't be disappointed.

LFF Entry #6

A solid boxing film with a pretty familiar story. It's not bad by any means, but you can kind of see where it's heading - especially as it plays out. Nazeem does a good job in the lead, but Brosnan really steals the show as the coach. The fight scenes are fun, and there are some great moments, particularly during the '80s section. Once it moves into the '90s though, it starts to drag a little.

There are a few bits where they try to make it look like it was shot on an old camcorder, but it ends up looking more like a filter effect than something filmed on actual vintage gear. Would've been cool if they'd gone all in and used real '90s camcorders, but oh well.

It's not on the same level as Rocky, The Wrestler, Southpaw, or The Iron Claw, but it's still a straightforward, easy watch - nothing mind-blowing, just a decent film that does what it sets out to do.