Movie Review of Of Mice and Men
In this, the third and latest movie version of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men,
screenplay written by Horton Foote and directed by Gary Sinese, the audience is
introduced to a variety of underdogs who are faced with a variety of unfortunate
predicaments. We must first note that the title Of Mice and Men comes from a Robert
Burns poem means “the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry”. This theme
follows the plot line through out the movie.
The audience follows two men, George (Gary Sinese) and Lennie (John
Malkovich), through a brief point in time in their lives during the Depression era. Lennie, a
slow-witted man, continually gets into trouble and drags George, Lennie’s friend and
gaurdian figure, along with him. Due to Lennie’s unintentionally harmful actions, he and
George are forced to travel the country to go-nowhere farm jobs. In this movie they wind
up at Tyler Ranch, near Soledad, California.
Just as in all of the other towns George and Lennie had worked at, Lennie winds
up in trouble at this one when he, not-purposely, kills Curley’s wife, a beautiful flirt played
by Sherilyn Fenn. When the men of the ranch decide to go out and find Lennie to kill him
for his crime, George decides that it must be him who ends Lennie’s life. If he had not
killed Lennie, Lennie would have wound up in a mental institute, been killed by the other
workers of the farm, or he would have lived, causing other lives, including George’s, to be
put in danger from his unpredictability.
The words “And will there be rabbits, George?”, said by Lennie, are delightful to
the audience when Geoge tells Lennie about their dream. They plan on living off of “the
fat of the land”. What Lennie’s favorite thing to do is, is to listen to George tell him about
what it will be like after they get money together to buy their dream. After the movie,
these words wind up haunting the viewers because of the heart-wrenching end: George
tells Lennie of their dream land, while he prepares a gun in order to shoot Lennie, without
As George becomes aware of the situation he begins to ponder what will happen if Lennie gets away. George understands that Lennie would not be capable of providing for himself out in the wild. As George contemplates allowing Lennie to be free of all the men, he “[is] a long time in answering” (94). George is one of the few men who understands Lennie’s mental limitations, he knows Lennie would not remember how to survive and “the poor bastard’d starve” (94). He
Lennie observes that he has "done a bad thing" (Steinbeck 100) and covers her body with hay. Lennie is hiding in the brush where George had told him to hide when he got into trouble. George finally emerges to get Lennie while he is an emotional mess. He then tells Lennie to take off his hat as he continues to recount "how it will be" (Steinbeck 104) for them. He orders Lennie to kneel and pulls out Carlson 's Luger.
Also, his thinking pattern is rather awkward or odd for someone of his age because what keeps him concentrated is this depiction of a farm where they will “tend the rabbits.build up a fire in the stove” (Steinbeck 14) which makes him mentally ill. When something is said to him about animals, he would instantly recognise this desire, but for everything else, he is pretty much a useless man but other people who were willing to listen like Slim and Crooks who got to know him understood that he is if anything vulnerable which is what many characters were even George.
Lennie’s unintentional mistakes resulted in the sudden end for him, but was done in the best way possible. As Lennie would’ve been subjected to a life of loss, running and suffering, George correctly made the decision in euthanizing him. While contemplating whether or not to euthanize him, George knew he very well could but it wasn’t the easiest decision to make on his part. If George wouldn’t of made the decision he did, Lennie would’ve had to run for the rest of his life with no account of what happened or what to do due to his mental illness. He would’ve been seen as a criminal and hunted down like animal which is inhumane and cruel. Although his mishaps weren’t meant to be as extreme as they were, the consequences were foreshadowed throughout
John Steinbeck 's book Of Mice and Men is a piece of literature that everyone is familiar with in one form or another. There have been countless stage productions of the book and three film adaptations. The most recent film version was in 1992, and it starred Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. While the film version remains mainly true to the original book, there are a few differences that are noticeable. While many think that a film can actually enhance a story by adding a visual to the text, it often times falls short. In dealing with the loneliness of the characters of the story, the book does a much better job of conveying not only their loneliness, but also the despair and desperation that each character feels when confronted with loneliness.
George and Lennie live in a hopeless present but they somehow try to keep a foot in an idealized future. They dream of one day running their own ranch, safe and answerable to no one. Others such as Curley's wife dreams of being a movie star, Crooks, of hoeing his own patch and Candy's couple of acres'.The dream ends with the death of Lennie.
In the novel Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck brings out the themes of Lonliness and companionship, and strengths and weaknesses through the actions, and quotations of the characters. Irony and foreshadowing play a large roll on how the story ends. Lennie and his habit of killing things not on purpose, but he is a victim of his own strength. George trying to pretend that his feelings for Lennie mean nothing. The entire novel is repetitive in themes and expressed views.
The daily struggle of the working class, fear of loneliness and the reality of putting all your energy into plans that fail are the different themes relating to John Steinbeck's novel, "Of Mice and Men". The characters depicted by the author are individuals who are constantly facing one obstacle after another. The book illustrates different conflicts such as man versus society, man versus man, man versus himself and idealism versus reality. The book's backdrop is set in the Salinas, California during the depression. The two main characters include two men, George and Lennie. Supportive characters include a few ranch hands, Candy, Crooks, Curly, Slim and Carlson.
been with George, he has told Lennie stories of a great place, with a cabin all to their
George discovers Lennie in the spot that he told Lennie to run to when trouble comes about on the farm. George and Lennie talk and Lennie tells George to not be anger at him for he meant no trouble. George says he understands and Lennie asks if he could still care for the rabbits on the new farm. George agrees and begins to describe the dream farm to Lennie. While talking, George shots Lennie in the head. The lynch party hears the shot and finds George with Lennie’s dead body. When the other men arrive, George lets them think that he was forced to kill Lennie because Lennie attack him. Slim consoles George, understanding that Lennie’s attack on George never happened, knowing that George killed his friend out of mercy. Slim and George leave while the other man stand looking at Lennie’s body.
Of Mice and Men is a novel written by John Steinbeck. It is set in California during the great depression. The story follows two ranch hands who travel together and are very poor. Throughout the novel we witness many different philosophical references. Many different types of characters from this novel are reused in today’s society. Steinbeck also writes eloquently about the many different emotions, aspirations, and dreams of man.
It is true that Lennie would be allowed to live if George hadn't killed him. Lennie and George could have escaped and lived in a cave. They would be free and able to do whatever
Ever since Lennie’s Aunt Clara died, George had to look after him because Lennie cannot look after himself (Steinbeck). Lennie accidentally scared a girl and he and George had to leave Weed, and they had to go get new jobs (Attell). George gets angry at Lennie for accidentally getting them in trouble and says he should leave and how easier his life would be without Lennie (Hart). He then tells Lennie that he did not mean what he said and would not leave him (Hart).
“Of mice and men” is about people who are lonely, sad and in search of
Steinbeck first introduces the power of fate in the underlying motif of impending disaster exhibited in the title and opening chapter. The title may be seen as a potent warning of the tragedy that will follow, ‘the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry’ is an excerpt from Robbie Burn’s poem ‘To A Mouse’. Steinbeck uses this title to reveal a harsh reality to the reader, of the grim nature of human existence at the time of The Great Depression; the characters seek power over their destinies yet rarely obtain it, due to external forces beyond their control. The dead mouse in Lennie’s pocket, serves as an ominous reiteration of the end that awaits the weak and unsuspecting creatures at the hand of fate, after all despite Lennie’s great size and strength his mental incapability’s render him as helpless as a mouse. Steinbeck further develops the power of fate in his repeated use of animal imagery which sees Lennie comparable with a bear, horse and terrier. Animals in the novell...