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Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible
Review: I found the movie had a convincing portrayal of friendship. Malkovich's acting as the retarded Lennie was outstanding, and Sinise's acting in the central role was very compelling.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Convincing portrayal of friendship.
Review: I've never read the original novel, so the story was completely new to me. It was refreshing to see a portrayal of a relationship between two unrelated men that doesn't lapse into the homophobic "buddies" conventions that are so depressingly common in films/books based on more modern material. Malkovich does not always succeed in hiding the fact that he is a highly intelligent man, but Sinise's acting in the central role is compelling. The film is well paced, avoiding the over-reverential and over-extended approach that is one of the pitfalls of adapting a classic to the screen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "A sad but excellent film"
Review: It was a good movie... what more can I say

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A depressing but extrordinary film
Review: John Steinbeck's classic tale of men deperately trying to escape their monotonous and meaningless lives is captured extraordinarilly in this film. The film relates to the novel nearly line for line. Malkovich dramatizes the simple minded but caring character of Lennie exceptinally and Sinise performs equally as well as George, Lennie's protector and sometimes stern friend.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The characters were real and you could really feel for them.
Review: Gary Sinise and John Malchivich were excellent in this version. You could really feel what they were going through. The ending, if you haven't read the book, was surprising and hard-hitting. This is my all time favorite drama.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Two best friends, you'll never excpect what's to come!
Review: This movie was the best movie in a long time. I couldn't believe how sad it made me, if you haven't seen it I recomend it, totally.( I think I'm gonna cry )

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A heartstring tugger in the traditional sense!
Review: Steinbeck's ability to define the human condition is and remains unparalled in American letters. Add to this the artistic genuis that is so evident in Sinise both as actor and director and you have the makings of a great classic which is just what this movie is. Malkovich did a better than average job of portraying the retarded Lennie but playing retarded people seems to be a hurdle that most actors seem not to be able to make too well and Malkovich's portrayal is no exception. Have heard it said that George's and Lennie's relationship was that of brothers. I disagree and find George's reactions to Lennie's condition to be more paternal than sibling and I think this picture brings out that side of the relationship. Find myself wondering is Sinise didn't see it too.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good translation from the bok
Review: Of Mice and Men, a story of two men trying to make a life of their own in the midst of the great depression, is a humorous yet heart breaking story of the way life is and it's cruelties. The book by John Steinbeck is far more descriptive in it's wide arange of adjectives used. Steinbeck paints a vivid picture of the beauty and rural life of the time, and yet he includes the personalities of his characters without flaw. Truly a movie worth seeing, both for historians, and humanists alike.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It was the best I have ever seen!
Review: This was a great movie. I was reading the book by John Steinbeck in my english class, when the teacher told me about a movie, based on this novel. I had not finished the book, when I saw the movie, but I thought it was the best. I also did not think that George was going to kill Lennie, but as it turns out, he did.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Steinbeck's Classic Done Right...Almost
Review: There's much to be said for Gary Sinise's adaptation of Steinbeck's 1937 classic, OF MICE AND MEN. In many ways, it's a better film than the 1939 United Artist's version (currently available on DVD).

Part of the reason for this is the frankness; Steinbeck's language has finally been loosed from the Breen Office. Too, the mature themes inherent in the novel are allowed full play on the screen--the sexual tensions between Steinbeck's bindle-stiffs and Curley's wife are palpable without being pornographic.

And let it be said right here that Gary Sinise can act rings around Burgess Meredith in the central role of George. It is unlikely anyone will ever nail the part so perfectly again. These elements alone make the film worth seeing.

For Steinbeck purists, however, some things are lacking...particularly in the area of characterization. For all his effort, Malkovich isn't quite convincing as the giant Lennie, lapsing into unfortunate Dracula-like hand-flutters in crucial scenes. He also tends to underplay and swallow important lines as if thinking, "Hell, everyone's read this book in high school, so let's get on with it."

Supporting characters suffer in some cases as well. While Ray Walston is quite good as Candy, changes in some of Steinbeck's other characters are ill-conceived. Curley's wife--in her late teens in the novel, and quite harsh--is played as a sympathetic twenty-something by the beautiful but too-polished Sherilynn Fenn. The aged, handicapped African-American Crooks is conversely played by an actor much too young, and a crucial scene between the two in the book (where she threatens to frame him for rape) is completely absent here. The idea seems to be to drum up sympathy for Fenn's character before her tragic death; this may be politically correct, but it's poor Steinbeck...and senseless manipulation in a film that otherwise catches Steinbeck's point of view so well.

Sad to say, some crucial scenes are misdirected. The central fight between Lennie and Curley, perfectly realized in the '39 version, is slow and drawn out here; and is there really any need for the final slow-motion buddy shot of Lennie and George walking in the field at the end? These are startling stylistic lapses in an otherwise tightly-controlled artistic grip.

And yet, in spite of these major flaws, the film has power. The sets, the cimematography, and (outside of the fight scene), the editing are perfectly done, as is the understated musical score. In short, Sinise has given us a very worthy version of the Steinbeck tale; a version that's the best one available in many ways.


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