Of Mice and Men

(Gary Sinise, USA, 1992)

Of Mice and Men is a stately, measured adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel by director Gary Sinise and screenwriter Horton Foote.

Unfortunately, it is stately to the point of resembling a typical American Playhouse production – respectable, academic, decked out with the usual elegiac touches of a soaring, over-emphatic musical score and mandatory beautiful photography.

This is a real pity after Sinise's tough directorial debut, Miles From Home (1988) – a little known gem starring Richard Gere that is worth tracking down.

As in his first film, Sinise is here heavily influenced by Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven (1978). Vivid views of rural, working life during the Depression punctuate the inexorable course of a poignant tragedy.

Sinise casts himself as George, companion and minder to mentally retarded Lennie (John Malkovich in an excellent performance), who is childlike but also sometimes uncontrollably brutal. When an unhappy farm wife (Sherilyn Fenn) starts hanging around the workers, all dreams of an idyllic future begin to unravel.

Sinise deftly brings out the immense pathos in this tale without overplaying it. And he has a clever way with an almost archetypal plotline, skipping over certain predictable details, lingering on others that contain a more unusual mood or perspective.

The director's own role is a problem – his George is too sensitive and brooding for this savage, elemental environment. Of Mice and Men is, in short, a certified quality film – which both is and is not a recommendation.

© Adrian Martin October 1993