The Mighty Review
by Bill Chambers (wchamber AT netcom DOT ca)October 7th, 1998
THE MIGHTY ** (out of four)
-a review by Bill Chambers, [email protected]
(Like movies? Me too.
FILM FREAK CENTRAL
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starring Elden Henson, Kieran Culkin, Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson screenplay by Charles Leavitt, based on the novel "Freak The Mighty" by Rodman Philbrick
directed by Peter Chelsom
THE MIGHTY is about a friendship between two boy outcasts. The latter suffers from Morquiro Syndrome, a
disease that stunts growth and can affect other parts of the body, such as the ears, eyes, muscles, etc. Modern
medicine has extended the lifespan of a Morquiro victim to about sixty years. Fortunately, science progresses much
faster than Hollywood, which probably explains why Ian Michael Smith, an eleven-year-old brainiac enduring
Morquiro in real-life, was turned down for the role of "Freak The Mighty" in favour of the more handsome Culkin.
(Of course, months later, Smith landed the part of Simon Birch in the film of the same name, ironically a character
not explicitly afflicted with Morquiro Syndrome--Simon is a dwarf.*)
Max Kane (Henson) is a friendless, illiterate, overweight adolescent living in his grandparents’ basement (his
father is in prison, his mother dead). Then "Freak", aka Kevin, moves in next door (Culkin) and turns Max’s world
upside-down. As Max explains in voice-over, "Freak was the brain, and I was the legs." They become one person,
in a sense, with Freak planted atop Max’s ample shoulders; as a makeshift giant, they take on all kinds of bullies,
instilled with a code of honour they picked up from a joint fascination with medieval legends. All does not remain
rosy for this gruesome twosome, however, as the ghosts that haunt them inch closer and closer. (Max is afraid of
his violent father’s release/escape; Freak is, essentially, running away from the grim reaper himself.)
With his moussed-hair and big glasses, Culkin as Freak looks like a hunchbacked, teenaged vision of the kid from
Jerry Maguire. There are a few feeble attempts to make him look smaller than he obviously is—high angle shots
and the like. Culkin’s performance is less credible than his appearance (ultimately, he looks more lazy than
handicapped): it’s difficult to empathize with a character this cocksure and smarmy. Particularly in THE MIGHTY's
early scenes, Culkin is possessed of an arrogance that had me cheering for the (downright phony, zero-dimensional)
sadistic school thugs who knock him off his crutches. I’m not sure it’s the screenplay’s fault, either—some may
argue Freak overcompensates in attitude because of his physical defects, but this brand of smugness seems to run
in Kieran’s family.
Speaking of overcompensating, Gillian Anderson—playing the fright-wigged, white-trash, vaguely Southern wife of
Iggy (Meat Loaf (!))—gives the most embarrassing supporting performance of the year in THE MIGHTY. She sooo
doesn’t want to remind you of her X-file alter-ego Dana Scully—"I have range, damn it!"—that she acts instead
like a man in drag doing Gloria Swanson doing Blanche Dubois of "A Streetcar Named Desire." The film is barely
watchable when she’s on screen. Sharon Stone, as Freak’s quiet mother, fares much, much better than Anderson,
though we never learn anything about her except that she loves her son to pieces. (She also has the best hairdo in
town, say I.)
There is ONE reason to see THE MIGHTY, and its name is Elden Henson. He is a newcomer to the big screen, and
I hope we see more of him, though I suspect this is the only lead he’ll play for quite some time. (Ignore the film’s
order of credits—Henson is the star.) Hollywood, you see, is almost as intolerant of heavy people as it is the
disabled (except on sitcoms and talk shows, where big women named Rosie and Roseanne rule.) Max is so
believably naive that I’ll cop to feeling a lump in my throat towards the end of the picture; his purity of emotion is a
sad and poignant sight to behold. Henson shines through all the unnecessary knight imagery, questionable plot
devices (a toboggan ride sequence is all-too-reminiscent of Home Alone’s slapstick), and story holes (the bullies
eventually disappear because...well, they just do). He even sweetly sells the voice-over.
I realize THE MIGHTY might have been made for the "Choose Your Own Adventure" crowd, in which case I could
conceivably forgive some of its more blatant characterizations. It will no doubt encourage some kids to pick up a
pen and start writing stories (after all, the whole film is essentially a storybook of Max’s creation come to life),
which is always a good thing. Yet whatever the target audience, very little of it works.
*Notice how both The Mighty poster and Simon Birch's newspaper campaign showcase their disabled characters in
silhouette.
-October, 1998
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
