Of Mice and Men

Steinbeck's classic book comes to life with Gary Sinise and John Malkovich

Based on the classic John Steinbeck novel and released in 1992, the story focuses on two traveling companions desperate for work in rural California during the Depression: George (Gary Sinise) is of average stature and smart whereas Lennie (John Malkovich) is big and mentally challenged. They get a gig at a big ranch while dreaming of owning their own one day when the opportunity suddenly presents itself. Unfortunately, the arrogant son of the owner, Curley (Casey Siemaszko), and his flirtatious wife (Sherilyn Fenn) complicate matters. John Terry is on hand as Slim, Ray Walston plays Candy and Joe Morton plays Crooks.

I've been a fan of this potent Western drama/tragedy ever since I read the book as a teenager and both this version and the 1939 version are worthy film adaptions (I have yet to see the 1981 TV production with Robert Blake and Randy Quaid, which I've heard is good). It seems that you just cannot do a 'bad' "Of Mice and Men," as long as you have decent actors and filmmakers.

Some people scoff at the moral of the story, as if it all comes down to shooting your aged, useless dog yourself, but it's way more than this. It's a commentary on the nature of companionship and loneliness: Whereas George and Lennie compliment each other many of the other characters languish in isolation, like Candy, Curley's wife and Crooks, even Slim. Questions of strength, weakness, usefulness, reality and utopia are explored as the story leaves you scratching your head.

Comparing the two versions, I slightly prefer the newer rendition because it's in color and is just overall better made with a superior score and cast with the exception of Lon Chaney as Lennie. Malkovich is very effective in the more recent version, but Chaney's Lennie is just more likable. While I don't like the addition of cussing in the 1992 rendition, it's probably more realistic and it isn't so bad that it makes th...