A touching story about a friendship between two middle school boys. Max(Henson) is a big kid who has a rough past, while Kevin or "freak" as they call him in the film is a boy with a physical disability that prevent him from walkin without stilt like crutches. Kieran Culkin was great in this film, very good performance early in his career. Elden Henson was not bad in a role that could have been played better, but he was decent, it was a bit of a hard role. Gandolfini was great and stole his limited number of scenes. Harry Dean Stanton was good as well, as was Gillian Anderson. The one disappointment was Sharon Stone who was very good in her scenes, but a bit wasted due to the screenplay concentrating mostly on the teenage characters. This film moves a bit slow, but is nonetheless a very heartwarming and touching picture. The direction is good, and screenplay is solid as well, acting is good for the most part. a Solid film. 8/10

Peter Chelsom's "The Mighty" is a good way to witness the bonding between two young boys whose lives come together in the most unexpected ways. These two wounded souls see in each other what they would like to be. Max would like to be as intelligent as Kevin, and Kevin would like to have Max's health.

Max's father having killed his mother, is serving time in jail. He is being raised by his aging grandparents. Max has withdrawn from the world. He is doing poorly in school having repeated the seventh grade and has no social graces.

Kevin is a boy suffering from a debilitating disease that has made him walk with the help of crutches. Kevin is made Max's reading tutor. It's appalling to see a grown boy like Max struggling to read a book. With Kevin's help he not only improves his reading, but form a winning team in trying to defeat the bullies that make their life impossible. Max begins carrying Kevin on his shoulders all over the city.

Eventually, fate intervenes in their lives. Max's father comes out of jail and he kidnaps his own son. Kevin, is instrumental in rescuing his buddy, but at the same time, his illness gets the best of him.

This is a film that is deceiving. Judging by all the big names in the cast, one doesn't expect the movie to be basically about the two boys. Elden Henson and Kieran Culkin are Max and Kevin, respectively. Both do excellent work under the inspired direction of Mr. Chelsom, who gets also good ensemble work from his cast. Gena Rowlands, Harry Dean Stanton, Sharon Stone, Gillian Anderson and James Gandolfini play second fiddle to the two young actors, who steal the movie and make it their own.

This is a positive film about how to overcome obstacles in life without fear.

This movie was great and I'd encourage anyone to see it. Both of the young actors are fantastic, especially Eldon Henson, and the adults in the movie are pretty good, too. Gillian Anderson and Henson have a really beautiful moment at a bus stop near the end. I also cried at one point quite a lot. It really was an amazing movie and deserves some praise.