Themes: Farm Life, Unlikely Friendships, Down on Their Luck
Main Cast: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Ray Walston, Casey Siemaszko, Sherilyn Fenn
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 110 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Gary Sinese directed this respectful re-telling of John Steinbeck's classic novel, with Sinese as the wily George and John Malkovich as the brutish, simple-minded Lennie. Set during the Depression era, the film opens as George and Lennie are running from a woman with a torn dress, who has sent a gang of ruffians to chase the two out of the county. After a long bus ride and a ten-mile walk, George and Lennie arrive at a migrant farm in California's San Joaquin Valley, where they seek work. George dreams of putting together enough money to buy a small piece of land where he and Lennie can build a home; he hopes that in California the two can realize their dream. Unfortunately, the foreman of the ranch, Curley (Casey Siemaszko), enjoys tormenting Lennie, while Curley's frustrated wife (Sherilyn Fenn) entices Lennie with her sexual allure. George warns Lennie to steer clear of Curley's wife, but Lennie follows her to a barn where a tragedy occurs and George and Lennie's dreams are shattered. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
It wasn't until 1992 that Chicago stage actor-director Gary Sinise made his mark in movies: first, with an impressive performance in the sleeper A Midnight Clear; and then as producer, director, and star of an adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. The latter work was a challenge, in light of the lionized source material as well as the highly regarded 1939 film version starring Burgess Meredith and Lon Chaney Jr.. Working from a script by the legendary Horton Foote (To Kill a Mockingbird), Sinise's version is certainly much closer to Steinbeck's work than the earlier version. He makes George the emphasis of the film, and John Malkovich's Lennie is excellently underplayed. Strikingly photographed by Kenneth MacMillan, the film has an uncluttered visual style. After Mice, Sinise would become one of America's most prolific, respected character actors in films such as Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and The Green Mile. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, Gary Sinise - Director, Robert Sinise - Editor, Alan C. Blomquist - Executive Producer, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), David Gropman - Production Designer, Daniel Davis - Production Designer, Kenneth MacMillan - Cinematographer, Alan C. Blomquist - Producer, Gary Sinise - Producer, Russ Smith - Producer, Karen Schultz - Set Designer, Cheryl Smith Dimont - Set Designer, Horton Foote - Screenwriter, John Steinbeck - Book Author
George Milton (Gary Sinise) is in a train boxcar, reminiscing upon the events that have just happened. He thinks back to when he and his companion Lennie Small (John Malkovich) are fleeing from their previous employment in Weed. They were run out of town after Lennie was accused of attempted rape when he touched a young woman's behind (prompted by his love of stroking soft things). Then George thinks of the events that have recently happened and make up the movie, taking place during the Great Depression. After running from Weed, George and Lennie are trying to attain their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie's part of the dream, which he never tires of hearing George describe, is merely to have soft rabbits on the farm, which he can pet. The two go to work at a ranch named Tyler Ranch.
At the ranch, the dream appears to move closer to reality. Candy (Ray Walston), the aged, one-handed ranch-hand, offers to pitch in with Lennie and George so they can buy the farm. The dream disappears when Lennie accidentally kills the young and attractive wife (Sherilyn Fenn) of Curley (Casey Siemaszko), the ranch owner's son, while trying to stroke her hair. A lynch mob led by Curley gathers. Realizing he is doomed to a life of loneliness and despair like the rest of the migrant workers, and wanting to spare Lennie a painful death at the hands of the vengeful and violent Curley, George shoots Lennie in the back of the head before the mob can find him. The film closes with the opening scene of George reminiscing in the train boxcar.
