Of Mice and Men (1992)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Gary Sinise

Writers (WGA):

John Steinbeck (novel)
Horton Foote (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 October 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

We have a dream. Someday, we'll have a little house and a couple of acres. A place to call home.

Plot:

Two drifters, one a gentle but slow giant, try to make money working the fields during the Depression so they can fulfill their dreams.

Plot Keywords:

California | Killing | Beautiful Woman | Animal In Title | Tragedy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

John Malkovich	...	Lennie Small
Gary Sinise	...	George Milton
Ray Walston	...	Candy
Casey Siemaszko	...	Curley
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Curley's Wife
John Terry	...	Slim
Richard Riehle	...	Carlson
Alexis Arquette	...	Whitt
Joe Morton	...	Crooks
Noble Willingham	...	The Boss
Joe D'Angerio	...	Jack
Tuck Milligan	...	Mike
David Steen	...	Tom
Moira Harris	...	Girl in Red Dress
Mark Boone Junior	...	Bus Driver

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some scenes of violence.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 (original rating) | France:U | Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The girl in the red dress, running through the field at the beginning of the movie, was played by Moira Harris, the wife of director/star Gary Sinise.

Goofs:

Continuity: Curley's wife's position in the barn after she dies.

Quotes:

George: Guys like us that work on ranches are the loneliest guys in the world. They ain't got no family and they don't belong no place. They got nothin' to look ahead to...
Lennie: But not us George. Tell about us.
George: ...well, we ain't like that. We got a future. We got somebody to talk to that gives a damn about us. If them other guys gets in jail they can rot for all anybody cares.
Lennie: But not us, George, because I... see, I got you to look after me, but you got me to look after you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Friends: The One with the Chick and the Duck (#3.21)" (1997)

...and a hutch full of rabbits

"Of mice and men" is one of these movies we definitely need in our times.Gary Sinise 's directing is classic in the noblest sense of the term.The cinematography recalls some of those Ford (who adapted "Grapes of wrath",another Steinbeck's novel for the screen) gems of the forties or fifties.It is heart-rending to see Malkovich and his portrayal of the half-wit is one of the finest you can see in a nineties movies and leaves,for instance Dustin Hoffman's "rain man" character far behind.It takes a lot of guts to play such demeaning parts !Gary Sinise should not be forgotten either,in a performance which offers all the subtleties of the heart.

What moves me in the movie is the loneliness which frightens the characters .Everyone is searching for someone to rely on.Not only the two heroes (I think that ,actually, George needs more Lennie than the other way about)but also the old man -the scene with the old dog is almost unbearable;it will have an equivalent in a terrifying way at the end recalling Horace MacCoy's "they shoot horses don't they?"- Curley's wife;only the black guy has resigned himself to solitude.The scene when Candy and the two pals are talking of their future house -which we know from the very start they'll never have- is really heartwarming.At least,for one precious and fleeting moment,they could dream of a home,a fireplace and a hutch full of rabbits.