Of Mice And Men Film Review Essay, Research Paper

Of Mice and Men: Review

In this, the third and latest movie version of John Steinbeck?s Of Mice and Men,

screenplay written by Horton Foote and directed by Gary Sinese, the audience is

introduced to a variety of underdogs who are faced with a variety of unfortunate

predicaments. We must first note that the title Of Mice and Men comes from a Robert

Burns poem means ?the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry?. This theme

follows the plot line through out the movie.

The audience follows two men, George (Gary Sinese) and Lennie (John

Malkovich), through a brief point in time in their lives during the Depression era. Lennie, a

slow-witted man, continually gets into trouble and drags George, Lennie?s friend and

gaurdian figure, along with him. Due to Lennie?s unintentionally harmful actions, he and

George are forced to travel the country to go-nowhere farm jobs. In this movie they wind

up at Tyler Ranch, near Soledad, California.

Just as in all of the other towns George and Lennie had worked at, Lennie winds

up in trouble at this one when he, not-purposely, kills Curley?s wife, a beautiful flirt played

by Sherilyn Fenn. When the men of the ranch decide to go out and find Lennie to kill him

for his crime, George decides that it must be him who ends Lennie?s life. If he had not

killed Lennie, Lennie would have wound up in a mental institute, been killed by the other

workers of the farm, or he would have lived, causing other lives, including George?s, to be

put in danger from his unpredictability.

The words ?And will there be rabbits, George??, said by Lennie, are delightful to

the audience when Geoge tells Lennie about their dream. They plan on living off of ?the

fat of the land?. What Lennie?s favorite thing to do is, is to listen to George tell him about

what it will be like after they get money together to buy their dream. After the movie,

these words wind up haunting the viewers because of the heart-wrenching end: George

tells Lennie of their dream land, while he prepares a gun in order to shoot Lennie, without

his knowing.

Gary Sinese as George and John Malkovich as Lennie are outstanding, due to their

pared-down and believable portrayals of the main characters in Steinbeck?s novel. Gary

Sinese does a wonderful, first-time directorial in this movie. The chronological order of

this film is not completely parallel to that of the novel, but it still achieves the same

in-depth effect. This film is a must see for those who are fans of John Steinbeck, or for

those who just want to see an exquisite film.