''The Mighty'' is a 1998 American

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) *Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Amer ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Peter Chelsom Peter Chelsom (born 20 April 1956) is a British film director, writer, and actor. He has directed such films as ''Hector and the Search for Happiness'', ''Serendipity'', and '' Shall We Dance?'' Peter Chelsom is a member of the British Academ ...

and written by

Charles Leavitt Charles Leavitt (born 1956) is an American screenwriter best known for writing the 2006 film '' Blood Diamond''. Life and career Leavitt's screenwriting career began in 1996 when he wrote ''Sunchaser''. He wrote the screen adaptation of the R ...

. Based on the book ''

Freak the Mighty ''Freak the Mighty'' is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1993, it was followed by the novel '' Max the Mighty'' in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, developmentally disabled, but kind-hearted b ...

'' by

Rodman Philbrick Rodman Philbrick (born January 22, 1951) is an American writer of novels for adults and children. He has written popular children's books such as ''Freak the Mighty'', Max the Mighty, The Last Book on Earth and has written other mysteries and thr ...

, the film stars

Sharon Stone Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...

Gena Rowlands Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American retired actress, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations ...

Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series ''The X-Files'', ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies's film ''The House of Mirth'' ...

Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including '' Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroe ...

Kieran Culkin Kieran Kyle Culkin (born September 30, 1982) is an American actor. The brother of actors Macaulay and Rory, he began his career as a child actor in the films ''Home Alone'' (1990), ''Father of the Bride'' (1991)'', The Mighty'' (1998), and ''Th ...

James Gandolfini James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Scree ...

and

Elden Henson Elden Henson (born Elden Ryan Ratliff, August 30, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fulton Reed in '' The Mighty Ducks'' trilogy (1992–1996), Foggy Nelson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) streaming television series ...

Plot

Kevin "Freak" Dillon (

) is a 12-year-old boy suffering from

Morquio syndrome Morquio syndrome, also known as Mucopolysaccharidosis Type IV (MPS IV), is a rare metabolic disorder in which the body cannot process certain types of sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans (AKA GAGs, or mucopolysaccharides). In Morquio syndr ...

and living with his mother Gwen "Fair Gwen" Dillon (

). He is extremely intelligent and is obsessed with flights of fancy, but due to his disability, he walks with leg braces and crutches. Meanwhile, Maxwell "Max" Kane (

) is a 14-year-old beastly yet good-natured boy with learning challenges and living with his maternal grandparents Susan "Gram" (

) and Elton "Grim" Pinneman (

). He has flunked the seventh grade twice and is tormented by Tony "Blade" Fowler (Joseph Perrino), a teenage delinquent who is the leader of a teenage bully gang named the "Doghouse Boys". When Kevin is assigned as Max's reading tutor, they form a bond of friendship over the similar circumstances they share, such as both being outcasts in their school and their fathers abandoning them. Freak and Max go to a local festival to watch a firework show where they get attacked by Blade and his gang. The two then escape into a nearby lake with Freak riding on Max's shoulders. Freak later witnesses the "Doghouse Boys" putting someone's purse in a sewer. The two retrieve the purse but are once again confronted by Blade and his gang. They attempt to attack Freak, but Max stops them by picking up a manhole cover and throwing it at the gang, forcing them to flee in a panic. Max and Freak find that the purse belongs to a woman named Loretta Lee (

). They return the purse to Loretta who is married to Iggy Lee (

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...

), a former gang leader. The couple are old friends of Max's father Kenny "Killer" Kane (

) who is currently in prison for the strangulation murder of Max's mother when Max was four years old, which Max witnessed. On Christmas Eve, Max is kidnapped by Killer Kane who has been released on parole and is taken to Iggy and Loretta's apartment, where he is tied up. Loretta attempts to help Max escape but Killer attempts to strangle her. Max's seeing the attack prompts a repressed memory of Killer Kane killing his mother; he breaks free of his bonds and attacks his own father. Freak tracks Max and Killer Kane to Iggy and Loretta's apartment and breaks in, armed with a squirt gun he claims is loaded with

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

which he got for Christmas, which he sprays in Killer Kane's eyes. Just before an angered Killer Kane regains himself and attempts to hurt Freak, Max tackles him through the wall where the police are waiting; Killer Kane is then returned to prison for life without the possibility of parole while Freak and Max run home to have Christmas dinner together along with Gwen, Grim and Gram. While exchanging Christmas gifts, Freak gives Max a blank book and tells him to write in it. That night, Freak dies in his sleep due to heart problems in which the next morning Max hears the news from Gram and gives chase to the ambulance on foot. Max recalls the biogenic intervention unit of a research center Freak had mentioned earlier and rushes there, only to discover that the lab in question is nothing other than a commercial laundromat. Heartbroken, Max breaks down in grief among the laundry workers. The following weeks, Max continues attending school but spends his spare time locked in the basement, even missing Freak's funeral and seeing Gwen moving away. He later runs into Loretta at a bus stop, who advises him that "doing nothing's a drag, kid". He takes this advice to heart and even works up the courage to answer a question from his teacher during a lecture. Inspired by their bond, Max remembers Freak and all the adventures they had so he decides to write it all in the empty book Freak had given him for Christmas. Max gets writer's block on the last page and puts an illustration of

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

's grave which reads "Here Lies King Arthur, Once and Future King", to symbolize his belief that he will see Freak again. Max then takes Freak's ornithopter and winds it up, making it fly. As the ornithopter flies off, a narration by Max is heard:

Cast

as Maxwell "Max" Kane/The Mighty *

as Kevin Dillon/Freak *

as Gwen "The Fair Gwen Of Air" Dillon *

as Susan "Gram" Pinneman *

as Elton "Grim" Pinneman *

as Kenneth "Kenny" David Kane aka "Killer" Kane *

as Loretta Lee *

as Iggy Lee *

Jenifer Lewis Jenifer Jeanette Lewis (born January 25, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in Broadway musicals and worked as a back-up singer for Bette Midler before appearing in films ''Beaches'' (1988) and ''Sister Act'' (1992). Le ...

as Mrs. Addison *

Joseph Perrino Joseph Perrino (born April 30, 1982) is an American actor. He is best known for his role in the drama film ''Sleepers'' in 1996. Life and career Joseph Perrino is an American film, television and stage actor, best known for his roles in the fe ...

as Tony "Blade" Fowler *

Dov Tiefenbach Dov Yosef Tiefenbach (born December 8, 1981) is a Canadian actor and musician. Life and career Tiefenbach was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is of Jewish background. He began his acting career at the age of 12, starting off in commercials, ...

as Doghouse Boy #1 * Michael Colton as Doghouse Boy #2 * Daniel Lee as Doghouse Boy #3

Reception

The film received positive reviews, currently holding a 75% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

from 40 critics; the consensus simply states: "Spirited and sweet with an emphasis on the healing power of friendship, ''The Mighty'' is a modest charmer that comes by its whimsy honestly."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mighty, The 1998 films 1990s English-language films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1990s buddy comedy-drama films American buddy comedy-drama films American independent films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films based on American novels Films set in Ohio Films set in schools Films about death Films shot in Ohio Films set in Cincinnati Films directed by Peter Chelsom Films produced by Don Carmody Films scored by Trevor Jones Miramax films 1998 comedy films 1998 drama films 1998 independent films 1990s American films Films about disability