Comparison Of John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

Of Mice and Men is a wonderful story about two brother like friends named, George Milton (Gary Sinise), and Lennie Small (John Malkovich), who are like most men in their time. They travel the states looking for farms to work on, but what sets them apart is that they got someone who cares about them, they aren’t like the other men travelling alone. Their lives have taken turn after turn, Lennie getting them into trouble and George cunning them out of it, and soon those turns led them to a farm in the Salinas valley. There Lennie gets into trouble and George might not be able to talk them out of it.

John Malkovich did a fantastic job playing Lennie, he was large and small, weak and strong, and old and childish all at the same time, just like Lennie is. Lennie is a carefree guy with mental disabilities, and back then not much was known about mental disabilities or how to help people with them. Lennie never knew his own strength, often killing small animals if he tried to pet them, and this leads to a big conflict at the end of the movie.

Gary Sinise played a wonderful George, he showed emotion well and when it came down to it he was a great actor.

He was kind even when he said harsh words to Lennie, just like George. George is a dreamer, he wants his own place with Lennie, he wants to, “live off the fatta the land,” as they say, and he cares about Lennie with all his heart and even when Lennie does bad George never leaves him. Even when George makes the biggest mistake of his life George wants to stay with him, though it might not be

possible.

Other characters in the movie are, Curley, he is a small man that likes to start fights and cause trouble with bigger people because he hates that he’s small. Mae, Curley’s wife, she is a beautiful women who likes to show off, she likes to talk to the men in the camp because there are no women around, Curley hates that she talks to them and it causes many fights. Candy, an old one handed swamper, he is a dreamer like George, he bonds with George and Lennie as the movie goes on and he becomes a decent friend to them. And Slim, Slim is a tall, lanky man who is often more of an observer than a talker, he is one of the only men that understands how much George and Lennie care for each other.

The movie’s scenery is gorgeous and sets an amazing view of the past, old machinery, old clothing, even down to the way they talk is just like it was in their time. This movie really makes one feel as though they are actually on the farm with these men. The sounds of the crickets and the wind, even the music, sets the mood to how they lived on that camp.

Overall the movie was an almost perfect representation of John Steinbeck's, 1937, novel Of Mice and Men. Even though it left out important parts it was still a phenomenal movie and portrayed the love between the characters and the setting of their lives. This book gets a ⅘, even though the setting and scenery match the book, and the characters are played exceptionally well, it still left out some major parts of the novel.