Max Keeble

"I was a player with phat attitude or as I like to call it... PHATITUDE.

Max Keeble is the titular main protagonist of the 2001 Disney film Max Keeble's Big Move. He was portrayed by Alex D. Linz.

Why He's Great

1. He has aspirations of being a hero, which is shown at the beginning where he dreamed about him being a type of hero who saves the day.
   • He made his dream come true when he manages to stop Principal Jindrake's plans to take the animal shelter down.
2. He is charismatic and generous to everyone around him.
3. His pranks on his enemies are very entertaining to watch.
   • The food fight he concocted was especially exciting and memorable.
4. He is very intelligent, crafty and creative, as he is capable of making elaborate schemes, breaking into his school at night without getting caught and tricking Principal Jindrake into admitting his crime of fiddling with the school's budget to create a football field.
5. He genuinely cares about his friends Megan and Robe and would do things to make things right for them.
6. Unlike many lovable troublemakers like Bart Simpson, Peter Pan and Ferris Bueller, Max has a sympathetic reason for his mischief, given his troubled school life.
7. He is rather wise for his age, as when he gives his father great advice about standing up for himself against his overbearing boss Mr. Foge and tells his classmates that getting revenge on the bullies would not make the school a better place.
8. His catchphrase "Phat-titude" is iconic and memorable.
9. He is shown to be a great caretaker to animals. In fact, he nursed a chimpanzee named Tad when the latter was a baby chimp. At some point, he placed him in the animal shelter, but he still visits him, showing how much he cares about his friend.
10. He goes through TREMENDOUS character development:
    • Max starts off as somewhat vain and tries to find ways to be cool and popular at school, such as gaining the affection of his crush Jenna. When his ambition came true, he realizes it came with the expense of his friends and instantly feels guilty about it. He realizes that valuing friendships is more important than gaining popularity.
    • When he discovers that his family is moving to Chicago, he was initially upset. However, he eventually uses it as an opportunity to get back on those who torment him through means of acts of mischief and rebellion. When he finds out that his family isn't moving to Chicago, he not only realizes that actions have consequences, but also that getting revenge is not how to stand up to his enemies.
11. He is relatable to those who went through being bullied and feel the urge to fight back.
12. Alex D. Linz did a great performance on portraying his character.

Bad Qualities

1. While he is definitely a good kid at heart, Max can be egotistical and selfish at times.
   • Rather than going to his get-away party to spend time with Megan and Robe, Max goes to the ice cream parlor with his crush Jenna to have a milkshake (more like a milkshake contest).
     • When he becomes popular at the ice cream parlor, he lets his popularity go to his head and neglects his friends in the process.
   • Due to his own insecurities, as well as his stress of moving to Chicago, Max was initially oblivious to the fact that Megan has romantic feelings for him. Robe eventually points it out to Max while calling him out on his selfishness and choosing Jenna and being popular over his friendship with Megan and Robe. While this is an unintentional betrayal on Max's part and that he instantly regrets his misdeed, the fact that he betrays them at all shows how much he took his friends for granted.
2. Max can be somewhat short-sighted, which sometimes prevents him from properly thinking his plans through or realizing the possible consequences of his actions.
   • While giving his father advice about standing up for himself against his boss was wise, kind and helpful, it didn't occur to Max that his dad would take his advice to heart, which resulted in the family's plan of moving to Chicago being cancelled, causing Max's plan to backfire.
   • Max believes that his enemies would only come after him when he will be out of town for Chicago. However, he didn't count on the fact that, even if he didn't leave for Chicago, Principal Jindrake, McGinty and Dobbs would likely take out their anger on his friends and other students as an indirect result of his mischief.
3. His pranks on his enemies can vary from borderline criminal to slightly sadistic, though this is justifiable, considering that they make him suffer hardships when it is never his fault to begin with.
   • Along with Megan and Robe, he snuck into the school at night to place pheromones in Principal Jindrake's mouth spray.

Trivia

• The late rapper 6 Dogs made a song about him called "Max Keeble".