Of Mice and Men [DVD]

The service was fine for this excellent 1992 movie. It’s not often I will say this but I thought this was better than the black and white original from 1939. John Malkovich was simply amazing as the tragic Lenny. Gary Sinise underplays perfectly as Lennys companion George, proving to be the perfect sparring partner for Malkovich’s Lenny. Gary Sinise also directed this version and he did such an excellent job I was surprised to hear he never got behind the camera again. But it’s the Malkovich show in this movie and he blew me away with his riveting performance as Lenny. Would highly recommend.

As a teenager,in the sixties,I read lots of Steinbeck including Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath and The Log from the Sea of Cortez, and found all of them to be nothing less than compelling. The images in his novels have probably been the strongest I have experienced from any writer. To make a film from a Steinbeck novel is a daunting task as they are packed with emotion, ranging from despair to ecstasy and everything in between, with characters to match. Having said that I have seen other movies of Steinbecks' work including the original versions of "Mice" and "Grapes" both of which I thought excellant. So I was a bit dubious about the Gary Sinise directed version of "Mice" as he was also playing the lead character on whom so much of the book hangs, and I think a lot of actor directed films lose out because of that dual role. I shoudn't have worried, I enjoyed the film immensely. I engaged with Lenny and George in their roller coaster life of highs and lows looking for work and avoiding trouble. The action moved constantly as Lenny and George follow their dream of having a little place of their own where everything would be "just fine and dandy". But we all know that life isn't that easy and the film brought that reality home to us in a tear jerking finale. Congratulations go to Gary Senise for acting in, and directing, a great atmospheric film which should be considered a classic.

the first time i saw this, was in school in English, part of my GCSE's, i liked it and had to see it again. John's performance of Lennie is amazing. And he played along side a great actor Gary who played George. I realised that a lot of people brought this to help with their GCSE's and also because they really like it. It has a very natural setting, and lovely scenery throughout. I like the relationship between Lennie and George, Lennie will do anything George says and be happy doing it. George sticks up for Lennie when he gets bullied and belittled. Just the best of friends who want to live the American dream. At the end George done what he thought was right for himself, Lennie was slowing George down and making life really hard. But poor Lennie didn't know any different. a very good story and a sad ending but well worth watching. i recommend this for people on their GCSE's and anyone else who fancies watching. Good price, fast dispatch and delivery..... Thanks

Of Mice and Men (from now on known by the acronym we use at work - OMM!) is a classic piece of literature which is almost always available on the syllabus of most exam boards' GCSE English courses. We use it because we are a 16-19 F.E. college where our students are re-taking their English to get a C before they leave us, but they only have a year to do so. Therefore, we need a short book - and this is the one we use (and most of our students have done it at school as well). We do let them watch the film - just once - because unlike many film adaptations, this 1992 version directed by Gary Sinese (who also plays 'George') is very faithful to Steinbeck's original novel. Very little has been added in/taken away/adapted - in huge parts of the film you can, almost literally, read along to the script from the novel in front of you. Oddly enough, though, I didn't buy it because of work. I bought it because my own daughters have never had to study it at school (by some fluke - others in their year group did) and have never read it. So I bought the DVD for them (one's doing her GCSE English this year) to see what they thought. I've been teaching it for so long, and seen the film at work with 6 different classes over the last term so often, that I've actually got too close to both the plot and the film's style to be 'surprised' or 'gripped' by it in the way I suspected a new viewer (my daughters) might be. Either that, or they were going to say it was boring! But the former was correct - in fact, one of them kept saying "Can we have dinner late - I don't want to stop watching till it's over." She was completely gripped by the plot and the way the film presents it. It's a long film - be prepared if you want to watch it in one sitting. (Actually, you could read the book in one evening as well - it's really small!) But Sinese captures the text better than many directors who try to adapt 'classic' literature for the big screen. I'd say this is 'up there' with the film adaptation of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in terms of the respect paid to the author and the novel itself (although the film of TKAM had to make compromises about what could be included to make the film work). Out of the two, of course OMM is the closest adaptation because it's a shorter book an is almost done is 'real time' (whereas a completely faithful film version of TKAM would probably end up at several hours!). I wish Sinese had gone on to direct more films - this is the only film he ever made behind the camera. Malkovich's interpretation of Lennie is very strong - the big man with the Small surname, and all pathos of him not knowing his own strength, portrayed with an emotion you can't can't help but get involved in. The rest of the cast weren't (and, for most of us in the UK, probably still aren't) actors whose names roll of your tongue with any kind of recognition, but they all do a good job. If you've never read OMM, or your children have studied it and talked about it and you're wondering what the book is about for yourself, then you can do worse than buy this film adaptation (which is half the price of some of the paperback versions out there!). If you like it it would be a good next step to read the book - a film is no substitute in the long run. If your child is studying the book at school, and hasn't seen the film, then there's nothing wrong with them watching it once or twice - but please remind them that the exam is on the book, not the film, and watching the film doesn't mean they shouldn't read the book several times! Film adaptations are like study guides - useful, but not a replacement for the text they are supporting! If you buy, I hope you enjoy.

As described, quick delivery

This was an enjoyable adaptation of Steinbeck's Classic, 'Of Mice and Men' but like most films the stuff it cut out tended to be humorous moments that made the book so delightful. Gary Sinise was an excellent George but I felt John Malcovich was a bit miscast in the role of Lenny. The book is very specific in its description of Lenny, 'behind him walked his opposite, a huge man shapeless of face'. Malcovich isn't really any of these. I also imagined Lenny as a much bigger man, perhaps the size of a Gerard Depardieu or Jaws from the Bond movies. Nevertheless the adaptation did work, largely because of the energy and enthusiasm of Sinise. Obviously they also had to cut out the hallucinatory scene involving Lenny and the Giant rabbit with his Aunt's voice, which was disappointing. But this is well worth a watch and you do warm to Malcovich's portrayal of the big man.

As an enthusiastic fan of John Steinbeck, I cannot think of a more perfect package than a Steinbeck novel adapted to film and starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, with the added bonus of Gary Sinise directing. This has to be one of Steinbecks most loved tales and the casting of Gary Sinise (George) and John Malkovich (Lenny) is pure genius. No one could possibly have captured the gentle giant, Lenny, any better than John Malkovich. Furthermore, if you love the book, it loses nothing in translation to film. A moving tale of two men travelling for work, Lenny continually gets into trouble purely because of his childlike innocence which is misunderstood by other adults who only see a big man who should know better. George does his best to protect Lenny but unfortunately, all of George's efforts to keep Lenny out of trouble by promising his dream of tending rabbits is just one more job away if he behaves himself come to the tragic finale that makes this such an enchanting tale. Sinise & Malkovich are so convincing as these wonderful characters, it could not fail to touch even the hardest heart. I love John Malkovich - but this, to me, is his best performance ever. Steinbeck movies attract the greats, John Garfield and Spencer Tracy in Tortilla Flat for example, but of all the adaptations I've seen, this is by far the best.

What a wonderful film and acting! John Malkovich demonstrates his genius as an actor in this 1992 re-make of "Of Mice and Men". The film is directed to perfection by Gary Sinise, who also plays the character of George Milton Lennie's protector. Sinise must have had a challenge to live up to such a masterpiece by John Steinbeck, but managed it very well indeed. Some of the scenes were strongly emotionally charged. The bond between the 2 main characters were very powerfully demonstrated. The film was very entertaining, capturing and thought provoking from the beginning to the end. Highly recommended!