The Mighty
Encyclopedia
The Mighty is a 1998 drama film based on the book Freak the Mighty
by Rodman Philbrick
.
-year-old boy who suffers Mucopolysaccharidosis IV
, or Morquio syndrome. He is extremely intelligent and prone to flights of fancy, but is physically crippled and is forced to walk with crutches. Max (Elden Henson
) is an oversized yet good-natured boy suffering from dyslexia
. He has flunked the seventh grade twice and is tormented by Blade (Joseph Perrino
), a teenage gang leader. 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 and their fathers abandoning them. Kevin and Max go to the fireworks and get attacked by Blade and his gang. The two escape into a nearby lake with Kevin riding on Max's shoulders. Kevin then witnesses that same gang of teens putting someone's purse in a sewer later. After Max and Kevin get the purse, they are once again confronted by Blade. They attempt to attack Kevin, but Max stops them. Max then becomes angry and the gang (fearing for their lives) run away. Both Max and Kevin see the purse belongs to a lady named Loretta Lee. Kevin and Max return the purse to Loretta (Gillian Anderson
) and see that she is married to Iggy Lee (Meat Loaf
), an ex gang leader. Loretta and Iggy learn that Max is the son of the infamous murderer Kenny "Killer" Kane (James Gandolfini
), who was an old friend of Iggy's from prison. Afterward, the two help each other out with Kevin acting as Max's brain and Max acting as Kevin's legs by carrying him around everywhere on his shoulders.
On Christmas Eve, Max is kidnapped by his father, who has recently been released from prison on parole
. Max is taken to Loretta's home. Killer Kane tries to murder Loretta after she attempts to help Max escape, causing Max to remember when Killer Kane killed Max's mother, which was one of the reasons he went to prison in the first place. Kevin then breaks in with a squirt gun and tells Killer Kane that he has sulfuric acid in it. Kevin shoots Killer Kane with the squirt gun and Kane thinks his eyes are burning despite the actually harmless
compounds that are in the vial. An angered Killer Kane attempts to attack Kevin. Max reacts and attacks his own father in order to prevent him from harming Kevin. Police come and arrest Kane who was never given a parole again and was sent back to prison. Max and Kevin go home and celebrate Christmas the next week. After exchanging gifts, Kevin gives Max an empty book and tells Max to write in it. The next morning, Kevin dies in his sleep, due to cardiac troubles. Max, not bearing to leave his friend, chases the ambulance to the hospital with bare feet. Recalling an earlier conversation with Kevin how he would get a new body from a research center, Max heads there immediately, only to discover that Kevin had lied and the research center is in fact a commercial laundromat. Max breaks down amongst the workers. For the next few weeks, he continues going to school, but spends his spare time locked in his basement. However, after Loretta reminds him that "[doing] nothing's a drag", he decides he has to go on, and even works up the courage to answer a question his teacher presents to the class.
Inspired by their bond, Max remembers Kevin and all the adventures they had and he decides to write it all in the empty book. Max eventually gets writers block on the last page so he puts an illustration of King Arthur's grave, which reads, "Here Lies King Arthur, Once and Future King", to symbolize his belief that he will see Kevin again. Max takes the old ornithopter (his mechanical air plane) that belonged to Kevin and he winds it up, making it fly. Max narrates the final sentence, "So now you have heard the story of Freak the Mighty, who slayed dragons, saved maidens, and walked high above the world."
Freak the Mighty
Freak the Mighty is a young adult novel by Rodman Philbrick. Published in 1995, it was l Max the Mighty in 1998. The primary characters are friends Maxwell Kane, a large, very slow, but kind-hearted boy, and Kevin Avery, nicknamed “Freak,” who is physically crippled but very intelligent...
by Rodman Philbrick
Rodman Philbrick
Rodman Philbrick is an author of novels for adults and children. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1951, and currently lives in Maine and Florida. Since 1980 he has been married to Lynn Harnett, who sometimes co-writes with him. They have no children. He has also written using the pen names...
.
Plot
Kevin (Kieran Culkin) is a 12-year-old boy who suffers Mucopolysaccharidosis IV
Morquio syndrome
Morquio's syndrome is an autosomal recessive mucopolysaccharide storage disease , usually inherited. It is a rare type of birth defect with serious consequences...
, or Morquio syndrome. He is extremely intelligent and prone to flights of fancy, but is physically crippled and is forced to walk with crutches. Max (Elden Henson
Elden Henson
Elden Henson is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks trilogy with Emilio Estevez, and playing Lenny Kagan in The Butterfly Effect....
) is an oversized yet good-natured boy suffering from dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
. He has flunked the seventh grade twice and is tormented by Blade (Joseph Perrino
Joseph Perrino
Joe Perrino was born and raised in the Bronx, New York to Italian parents and began acting when a casting director for the film "Sleepers" saw Joe standing on a street corner and asked him to read for the film. After months of auditioning Joe won one of the lead roles of young Lorenzo "Shakes"...
), a teenage gang leader. 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 and their fathers abandoning them. Kevin and Max go to the fireworks and get attacked by Blade and his gang. The two escape into a nearby lake with Kevin riding on Max's shoulders. Kevin then witnesses that same gang of teens putting someone's purse in a sewer later. After Max and Kevin get the purse, they are once again confronted by Blade. They attempt to attack Kevin, but Max stops them. Max then becomes angry and the gang (fearing for their lives) run away. Both Max and Kevin see the purse belongs to a lady named Loretta Lee. Kevin and Max return the purse to Loretta (Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
) and see that she is married to Iggy Lee (Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
), an ex gang leader. Loretta and Iggy learn that Max is the son of the infamous murderer Kenny "Killer" Kane (James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini
James J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
), who was an old friend of Iggy's from prison. Afterward, the two help each other out with Kevin acting as Max's brain and Max acting as Kevin's legs by carrying him around everywhere on his shoulders.
On Christmas Eve, Max is kidnapped by his father, who has recently been released from prison on parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. Max is taken to Loretta's home. Killer Kane tries to murder Loretta after she attempts to help Max escape, causing Max to remember when Killer Kane killed Max's mother, which was one of the reasons he went to prison in the first place. Kevin then breaks in with a squirt gun and tells Killer Kane that he has sulfuric acid in it. Kevin shoots Killer Kane with the squirt gun and Kane thinks his eyes are burning despite the actually harmless
Harmless
The term harmless may be taken in several ways:* A legal term occurring in the contract law concept of hold harmless . See also waiver.* An in-joke for HGTTG aficionados: see Mostly Harmless.In Music*Harmless - A record label....
compounds that are in the vial. An angered Killer Kane attempts to attack Kevin. Max reacts and attacks his own father in order to prevent him from harming Kevin. Police come and arrest Kane who was never given a parole again and was sent back to prison. Max and Kevin go home and celebrate Christmas the next week. After exchanging gifts, Kevin gives Max an empty book and tells Max to write in it. The next morning, Kevin dies in his sleep, due to cardiac troubles. Max, not bearing to leave his friend, chases the ambulance to the hospital with bare feet. Recalling an earlier conversation with Kevin how he would get a new body from a research center, Max heads there immediately, only to discover that Kevin had lied and the research center is in fact a commercial laundromat. Max breaks down amongst the workers. For the next few weeks, he continues going to school, but spends his spare time locked in his basement. However, after Loretta reminds him that "[doing] nothing's a drag", he decides he has to go on, and even works up the courage to answer a question his teacher presents to the class.
Inspired by their bond, Max remembers Kevin and all the adventures they had and he decides to write it all in the empty book. Max eventually gets writers block on the last page so he puts an illustration of King Arthur's grave, which reads, "Here Lies King Arthur, Once and Future King", to symbolize his belief that he will see Kevin again. Max takes the old ornithopter (his mechanical air plane) that belonged to Kevin and he winds it up, making it fly. Max narrates the final sentence, "So now you have heard the story of Freak the Mighty, who slayed dragons, saved maidens, and walked high above the world."
Cast
- Elden HensonElden HensonElden Henson is an American actor. He is best known for playing Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks trilogy with Emilio Estevez, and playing Lenny Kagan in The Butterfly Effect....
as Maxwell "Max" Kane - Kieran Culkin as Kevin Dillon (Kevin Avery in the book)
- Sharon StoneSharon StoneSharon Vonne Stone is an American actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She achieved international recognition for her role in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct...
as Gwen Dillon - Gena RowlandsGena RowlandsGena Rowlands is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy...
as Susan 'Gram' Pinneman - Harry Dean StantonHarry Dean StantonHarry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
as Elton 'Grim' Pinneman - James GandolfiniJames GandolfiniJames J. Gandolfini, Jr. is an Italian American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO TV series The Sopranos, about a troubled crime boss struggling to balance his family life and career in the Mafia...
as Kenny "Killer" Kane - Gillian AndersonGillian AndersonGillian Leigh Anderson is an American actress.After beginning her career in theatre, Anderson achieved international recognition for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully on the American television series The X-Files. During the show's nine seasons, Anderson won Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen...
as Loretta Lee - Meat LoafMeat LoafMichael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
as Iggy Lee - Jenifer LewisJenifer LewisJenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...
as Mrs. Addison - Joseph PerrinoJoseph PerrinoJoe Perrino was born and raised in the Bronx, New York to Italian parents and began acting when a casting director for the film "Sleepers" saw Joe standing on a street corner and asked him to read for the film. After months of auditioning Joe won one of the lead roles of young Lorenzo "Shakes"...
as Tony D. (Blade)