Then came this report on THE MIGHTY from SUPER SQUIRREL the flying rodent!!! You know any movie that has Heather Graham, Sharon Stone and GILLIAN ANDERSON has got me in the theater, but let's see if it will be a good trip or a bad trip...According to this viewer!
So I go to theater to see Boogie Nights for the 2nd time and this cute chick asks me if I want to see a free screening of a Miramax movie called "The Mighty" with Sharon Stone and Gillian Anderson in it. Sharon Stone, getting up in years but still a babe, Gillian Anderson, babe of the moment...and as good as Heather Graham looks totally nude for three seconds in Boogie Nights, I figured it worth a free screening to check out "The Mighty"
Well there's no sex whatsoever in "The Mighty". But it was awesome. "The Mighty" is based on a book I never heard of titled "Freak the Mighty". It's about this heavyset mute kid (many can relate) and his friendship with his neighbor, a crippled kid played by Kieran Culkin (Macauley's younger bro). I don't know how they are going to market or sell this movie because it doesn't have many of the elements that are marketable in it. The two boys join up together to become Freak the Mighty, which they believe is a knight from King Arthur's Round table in today's time. They preach the virtues of being knight, you know chivarly, bravery etc... The chubby mute kid carries the cripple kid on his shoulders so, a la the wondertwins, they only become Freak when they are together. The mute kid is the muscles and the cripple kid the brains. They have a series of tests (saving damsel in distress, returning a missing wallet and beating up the bullies) that they get through together before the final test comes and they have to deal with it separately.
But the relationship between the two boys is so well done. This is a movie that speaks to all of us chubby kids out there and all of us dorks, usually one in the same. The director and the actors really nailed the characters down. As a 25 year old guy, I have to say, I was transported back to my youth and I actually cried during this. This is really a drama. Sharon Stone plays the cripple kids Mom and she does a very nice job. Gillian Anderson plays this low life with a heart of gold type. Small roles for both. The two kids are on screen almost all the time.
It is a little contrived at times, yet this isn't the type of film that Hollywood is turning out at all. A relationship between two teenage boys who are outsiders and together they bring out the best in each other. The ending really hit me hard. Definite tear jerker.
After the screening, I checked around with the rest of the audience to see what the vibe was. Many red cheeked men and women casually pretending they had to blow their noses. Must of been allergy season. But I only hope that Miramax finds a way to pitch this movie to a wide audience. This is what that dumb movie "Angus" should have been. There's no glossy 90210 fantasy style applied to this. No hip alternative soundtrack. Just a well made story with some very fine acting by two young kids.
I just hope they don't try to "hip" it up and try to pitch this to the MTV set. It's not that kind of film.
