SOME `MIGHTY' PERFORMANCES.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

``The Mighty'' is a movie that tries to combine handicapped-child pathos, murderously dysfunctional family dynamics, knights-on-horseback fantasy, gritty urban realism and Gillian Anderson in fright makeup.

Needless to say, tonal consistency is not ``The Mighty's'' strong point. The film does have some nice things going for it, like a good bead on what friendship can mean to kids who don't fit in and a surprisingly effective Sharon Stone in a limited but tricky single-mom part. Even the mildly mystical elements make a certain psychological sense; young people should read and imagine more, the film persuasively states.

But despite some finely etched characterizations - or maybe because of them - ``Mighty'' frustrates, well, mightily as hokey and horrific elements increase toward the end. Amiably odd is one thing; wackily weird belongs somewhere else.

Based on the novel ``Freak the Mighty'' by Rodman Philbrick, the movie unfolds through the eyes of Maxwell Kane. Played by 20-year-old Elden Henson, Max is a junior high giant who, traumatized when his father murdered his mother, has retreated into a kind of social catatonia. He rarely speaks, is failing every class and permits his imposing self to be bullied by punks half his size.

Max lives in the basement of his grandparents' (Gena Rowlands and Harry Dean Stanton) low-rent Cincinnati row house. Then Gwen Dillon (Stone) and her bright, inventive son, Kevin (Kieran Culkin), move in next door. Diminutive Kevin has Morquio's syndrome, a condition that retards bone growth. Kevin's legs are in braces, and his back is bent, but this has encouraged him to let his imagination fly.

Kevin soon infects mopey Max with his enthusiasms, most notably a King Arthur fantasy that bonds the unlikely pair through a transcendent sense of nobility. With Kevin perched atop Max's massive shoulders, they become towering heroes in their own minds. But they're still just kids, and when awful reality re-enters their world, their courage is tested in ways even they couldn't have dreamt.

All of this could have gotten obnoxiously precious, as it did in the recent sap celebration ``Simon Birch.'' But Peter Chelsom, the congenitally eccentric English director of ``Hear My Song'' and ``Funny Bones,'' keeps sentimentality to a remarkable minimum here. Remarkable because Culkin's motor-mouth performance could easily have accelerated from puckishly amusing to insufferably plucky. But even as Kevin's health worsens, the young actor maintains a psychologically sound balance of self-delusion informed by just the right, subtle strain of desperation.

Henson, likewise, charts Max's emotional and mental blossoming with convincing vulnerability. He also knows what's funny about the big lug - and what makes him dangerous to himself and to others.

Stone takes the adult acting honors. She gets all of Gwen's understandable angst across in short, deft strokes that leave little space for self-pity. And there's a genuinely admirable quality to the way she manages Gwen's conflicting impulses to overprotect her son and encourage his eager inquisitiveness.

With all this fine work on display, one wonders what Anderson's sideshow drunk is doing in the mix. And she's just the leading edge of clashing elements that ultimately upset ``The Mighty's'' delicate, thoughtful balance.

THE FACTS

The film: ``The Mighty'' (PG-13; language, violence).

The stars: Elden Henson, Kieran Culkin, Sharon Stone, Gena Rowlands, Harry Dean Stanton, Gillian Anderson, James Gandolfini.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Peter Chelsom. Written by Charles Leavitt, based on Rodman Philbrick's novel, ``Freak the Mighty.'' Produced by Jane Startz and Simon Fields. Released by Miramax Films.

Running time: One hour, 49 minutes.

Playing: United Artists, Westwood; Beverly Connection, West Hollywood; AMC Century 14, Century City; Cineplex Broadway, Santa Monica.

Our rating: Two and one half stars.

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Photo

Photo: Kieran Culkin, top, and Elden Henson play Cincinnati neighbors who become fast friends in ``The Mighty.''