Of Mice and Men (1992)

Of Mice and Men (1992) 5th July 2017

Director: Gary Sinise

This film adaptation of the 1937 novel (of the same name) by John Steinbeck is possibly the most accurate version of the film as of 2017 (despite there being only two). Some might question the casting choices – namely Sinise casting himself as George, but in my opinion, he did a good job, and he definitely made the right choice of casting John Malkovich as Lennie as Malkovich portrayed Lennie perfectly: giving him a bit of a lisp, playing with his clothes to convey a childlike image of Lennie, and portraying each of Lennie’s emotions as strong and quickly-developing, whereas in the 1939 version, Lennie is just seen as a big, gullible guy rather than a large, slightly mentally-handicapped man.

My only real problem with the film is the ending (warning: spoilers ahead!): with the 1992 version, instead of George finishing off the story, then shooting Lennie, he shoots Lennie mid-sentence, during the line “An’ I get to tend the rabb- “. As much as I understand it was for dramatic effect, for those who’ve only seen the film and not the novel, and for GCSE students revising especially, they may think that the film ending is exactly like the novel’s and quote the film instead of the novel. Likewise, the scenes at the beginning with the lady in the red dress in Weed may confuse viewers as in the novel, it’s mentioned as a past event, whereas in the movie, it’s the opening scene.