The quest for friendship is the noblest cause of all.<BR>&nbsp;

The quest for friendship is the noblest cause of all.

The Mighty is about the empowering nature of friendship - in this case, between a gentle but not too bright giant of a kid called Max - played by Elden Hensen and his new neighbour Kevin - Kieran Culkin - who has a debilitating disease. Kevin may not be too agile physically but his brain`s in top gear and his heart is huge. As individuals these two are outsiders, together, inspired by heroic tales of medieval knights they are a winning combination...This is only the third film from British director Peter Chelsom - he`d previously made the delightfully eccentric Funny Bones and Hear My Song - it`s his first American film. It`s based on a very popular book for young adults Freak The Mighty by Rodman Philbrick. It could have been a sentimentalised sloppy story but Chelsom`s too clever for that. He brings great humour to the story, wonderful performances from the two children and a great texture to their working class lives. Kevin lives with his single mother played quite wonderfully by Sharon Stone and Max with his grandparents - Gena Rowlands and Harry Dean Stanton. Pretty solid casting. There is a touch of melodrama towards the end not helped by James Gandolfini`s less subtle performance but The Mighty is one of those films that I would absolutely relish taking my children to see...