The Mighty

Lovingly acted and supremely well-intentioned, this weepie based on Rodman Philbrick's acclaimed young-adults novel will struggle to find the suitable audience for its sweet but downbeat story. For hulking and uncommunicative Max (Elden Henson), life has been a series of bleak occurrences. For starters, his mother's dead and his dad's in jail, he's flunked 7th grade twice and lives with grandparents Gram and Grim (Gena Rowlands, Harry Dean Stanton) in a shabby row house in Cincinnati, in the basement no less. But this being an inspirational movie, you just know Max's life will take a turn for the better when the brainy but physically challenged Kevin (Kieran Culkin...