Common Sense Note
Parents should know that kids will see some fist-fighting; a man shooting his beloved old dog, putting it out of its misery; and, in the end, George shoot his beloved companion Lennie in order to spare him a cruel death at the hands of an angry mob. One character directs a racial slur at a farm hand.
Families who see this film may want to take this opportunity to read the book. This could lead to a rich discussion about whether the movie was true to the book, where it differed, and why. And a broader discussion: Do movies usually do justice to books?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Scott G. Mignola
An itinerant laborer struggles to keep his simpleminded companion out of trouble so that they can realize their small dream in Of Mice and Men. Gary Sinese and John Malkovich star in this modest, sincere adaptation of John Steinbeck's Depression-era classic, a must-see for both teens and parents.
Migrant farm workers George (Gary Sinese) and Lennie (John Malkovich) travel together, hoping that one day, when they've got enough money saved up, they'll buy a little place of their own and live off the fat of the land, and Lennie will get to tend the rabbits. Lennie likes soft things: rabbits, mice, puppies. He's a simpleton, a big powerful child, and soft things excite him. That excitement usually leads to trouble, and that trouble keeps them moving.
George and Lennie flee to another in a series of ranches, where trouble is quick to present itself. First, there's the boss's son, Curley (Casey Siemaszko), a little guy who hates big guys. But then there's also Curley's wife (Sherilyn Fenn), a lonely girl looking for attention. When Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, the two friends' dream crumbles, and George is forced into a devastating decision.
Bringing John Steinbeck's heartrending short novel to the screen is a difficult task, in large part because of the often parodied character of Lennie (think of the lumbering Warner Bros. cartoon dog who called everyone George and had a special fondness for Bugs -- "I will love him and I will pet him...").
As caricature has a tendency to overshadow character, John Malkovich's (Empire of the Sun) performance may be a bit jarring. His Lennie isn't a comical simpleton, or a mere child in a grown man's body. There are layers of complexity to him, and yearning, not just to tend the rabbits, but to be good, to please his friend. It's a difficult role, and Malkovich foregoes sentiment to make it both tragic and very real.
Gary Sinese (whom Forrest Gump fans will remember as legless Lieutenant Dan) has an affinity for Steinbeck dating back to his days as a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre, where he first performed with Malkovich. It is perhaps that early collaboration that makes these two so credible together.
The onscreen chemistry between the stars, Sinese's surefooted directing, and a faithful-to-the-novel script by Horton Foote -- who won an Academy Award for his 1962 adaptation of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird -- are all factors which contribute to Of Mice and Men's success.
If this movie doesn't make kids want to read Steinbeck (and it probably will), it should at least interest them in seeing other movies adapted from his works, one of the best being John Ford's 1940 version of The Grapes of Wrath starring Henry Fonda.
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ViolenceSome fist-fighting; A man shoots his beloved old dog, putting it out of its misery; Lennie kills Curley's wife by accident; and, in the end, George shoots his beloved companion Lennie in order to spare him a cruel death at the hands of an angry mob. |
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