The Mighty Movie Review 1998

Like "Simon Birch," this one also features a central character, Kevin (Culkin), who's smart and brave despite suffering from Morquio's syndrome. His new neighbor, Max (Henson), is just the opposite: large in size, not too bright, and afraid of everything. The two quickly find they're much stronger as a team than individually. When Kevin becomes Max's reading tutor, he brings along a book on the legend of King Arthur. Kevin rides Max's shoulders and, dubbing themselves "Freak the Mighty" (the title of Rodman Philbrick's novel, on which the film is based), the inspired boys embark on knightly neighborhood quests, even facing the evil Black Knight--in the form of Max's ex-con father. Henson is amazing as the at-first introverted Max, and Culkin does a good job as Kevin. Stone's understated performance as Kevin's mom shows she's more than a sexpot.

Distribution

Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 500 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91521-1120, Toll-free: 800-723-4763, URL: http://www.bvhe.com

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 100 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Buddies, Childhood Visions, Moms, Escaped Cons, Kidnapped!, Ex-Cons, Bad Dads

Screenplay

Charles Leavitt

Cast

Kieran Culkin, Elden (Ratliff) Henson, Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson, Harry Dean Stanton, Gena Rowlands, James Gandolfini, Joe Perrino, Meat Loaf Aday, Jenifer Lewis

Cinematography

John de Borman

Director

Peter Chelsom

Music

Trevor Jones