OF MICE AND MEN

In the new screen adaptation of John Steinbeck’s OF MICE AND MEN, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise play Lennie and George, respectively, two manual laborers in California during the depression era of the 1930’s. The characters have a great need for each other. Because of his handicap, Lennie needs George the way a child needs a parent. While George relies on Lennie’s size and strength for protection. The men have a simple dream which they recount frequently: both of them desire a small house with some farmland. Thus, Lennie often pleads with George to retell their dream, and Lennie’s favorite part is that one day he will be allowed to care for the rabbits on their little farm. Lennie has a fascination with soft animals. He (literally) smothers them with love, which eventually ends in tragedy.

However, the story is a tragedy–not a “feel good” movie. The film makes no attempt to modernize the story in order to make it accessible to a contemporary audience. Also, a caution is in order: it is disturbing to see Lennie’s unintentional killing of animals and eventually Curley’s wife, although this aspect of the film is handled discreetly.