"An American Tragedy" (film title "A Place in the Sun"), "The Great Gatsby", and "Of Mice and Men" focus on the tragic consequences of seeking the so-called American Dream. (At least that's an interpretation.) Of the three, "Of Mice and Men" is the only one where the setting and characters are exclusively in rural America. The title comes from the poem by Robert Burns "To a Mouse".
The well-known tale concerns two migrant worker friends in 1930's West Coast America, one slightly shorter, the other big and lumbering. George Milton (Gary Sinese) the shorter of the two is highly intelligent, while Lennie Small (John Malkovich) is incredibly strong but feeble-minded and doesn't quite understand his own strength. When angered he has a tendency to grab whatever it is around him and hold on for dear life. (Mental retardation was probably barely understood during this time.) The two are obviously not well-educated although George can read.
The story takes place at a ranch-farm where George and Lennie have signed up to do manual labor somewhere in rural California. Their goal is to save up enough money to buy a house and land of their own. A recurring "story" is the fantasy which George had probably fabricated to keep Lennie in line, where they would have a house and Lennie would tend the rabbits, never seen but only referred to. (Shortly after the book and the first movie adaption with Burgess Meredith as George and Lon Chaney Jr. As Lennie, Warner Bros. Endlessly spoofed the characters in their cartoon shorts, with a large lug always wanting a small pet animal and to name him "George".)
The rest of the film includes a spot-on cast, including. Ray Walston as Candy, an aging work-hand who had caught his hand in a harvesting machine many years earlier, and his pet dog who is probably the same age in dog years. Casey Siemaszko plays Curly, the insufferably jealous husband of his wife, the latter only referred to as Curly's wife played by Sherilyn Fenn. These two offer outstanding performances.
That said, Gary Sinese and John Malkovich offer possibly the best actor-pairing of these characters imaginable. George is highly intelligent but caught in a kind of purgatory having to look after the feeble-minded Lennie. Malkovich's and Sinese's performances as two of the most lovable losers in literary history are worth the price of admission alone. A tour de force film. I can see no downside to this film whatsoever and that's saying a lot.
The well-known tale concerns two migrant worker friends in 1930's West Coast America, one slightly shorter, the other big and lumbering. George Milton (Gary Sinese) the shorter of the two is highly intelligent, while Lennie Small (John Malkovich) is incredibly strong but feeble-minded and doesn't quite understand his own strength. When angered he has a tendency to grab whatever it is around him and hold on for dear life. (Mental retardation was probably barely understood during this time.) The two are obviously not well-educated although George can read.
The story takes place at a ranch-farm where George and Lennie have signed up to do manual labor somewhere in rural California. Their goal is to save up enough money to buy a house and land of their own. A recurring "story" is the fantasy which George had probably fabricated to keep Lennie in line, where they would have a house and Lennie would tend the rabbits, never seen but only referred to. (Shortly after the book and the first movie adaption with Burgess Meredith as George and Lon Chaney Jr. As Lennie, Warner Bros. Endlessly spoofed the characters in their cartoon shorts, with a large lug always wanting a small pet animal and to name him "George".)
The rest of the film includes a spot-on cast, including. Ray Walston as Candy, an aging work-hand who had caught his hand in a harvesting machine many years earlier, and his pet dog who is probably the same age in dog years. Casey Siemaszko plays Curly, the insufferably jealous husband of his wife, the latter only referred to as Curly's wife played by Sherilyn Fenn. These two offer outstanding performances.
That said, Gary Sinese and John Malkovich offer possibly the best actor-pairing of these characters imaginable. George is highly intelligent but caught in a kind of purgatory having to look after the feeble-minded Lennie. Malkovich's and Sinese's performances as two of the most lovable losers in literary history are worth the price of admission alone. A tour de force film. I can see no downside to this film whatsoever and that's saying a lot.