Taglines: We have a dream. Someday, we’ll have a little house and a couple of acres. A place to call home.
Of Mice and Men movie storyline. During the Great Depression, the quick-witted George Milton (Gary Sinise) looks after his physically strong yet mentally disabled companion Lennie Small (John Malkovich). The two are fleeing from their previous employment as workmen in Weed, California. Other farmers chase them after Lennie was accused of attempted rape when he touched and held onto a young woman (Moira Harris) and her pretty red dress, prompted by his love of stroking soft things. George and Lennie escape, hop on board a train and obtain work passes from a new town.
They board a Greyhound that brings them to Soledad, which is about two miles away from the ranch where they have work. While walking down the road to the ranch, George gets aggravated by Lennie’s incessant questioning about where they are going and then catches Lennie petting a dead mouse. Despite Lennie’s pleas to keep the dead mouse and his claims that he did not kill it, George takes it off him and throws it, causing Lennie to cry. George, showing sympathy, tries to explain to Lennie why he took the mouse away, due to his inability to control his strength. George tells him he will get him a puppy.
Close to evening, George decides they should camp in the brush by the river and go to the ranch the next morning. Finding out that they will have beans for the night, Lennie asks for ketchup, but George says they don’t have any. Lennie, not understanding, again asks for beans with ketchup; George gets agitated, launching into a long speech about Lennie’s ungratefulness and childlike behavior.
Lennie, puzzled and scared, decides to leave him and find a cave on his own, but George stops him by saying that Aunt Clara would not like Lennie walking by himself, and indeed wants him to stay. Now nighttime, Lennie requests George to tell him again about their American dream, as he has numerous times, and George reluctantly agrees. George describes how the two will one day have their own piece of land, and how Lennie will tend (and pet) their rabbits. George adds, if Lennie should ever get in trouble, he is to return to the brush and wait for him.
The two go to work at Tyler Ranch. When they meet the ranch Boss (Noble Willingham), he becomes suspicious of Lennie’s mental condition when Lennie talks, forgetting to keep silent as George had instructs him. In order not to be sacked, George lies to the Boss, telling him Lennie is his cousin and that he was kicked in the head by a horse when he was a child. At the bunkhouse, George and Lennie befriend an aged, one-handed ranch-hand, Candy (Ray Walston).
Of Mice and Men is a 1992 American period drama film based on John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella of the same name. Directed and produced by Gary Sinise, the film features Sinise as George Milton, alongside John Malkovich as Lennie Small, with Casey Siemaszko as Curley, John Terry as Slim, Ray Walston as Candy, Joe Morton as Crooks, and Sherilyn Fenn as Curley’s wife.
Horton Foote adapted the story for film. Its plot centers on George and the mentally disabled Lennie, two farm workers who travel together and dream of one day owning their own land. With their work passes, the two end up on Tyler Ranch. George finds a property for sale, and calculates that they can buy the land at the end of the month with Candy’s help. The film explores themes of discrimination, loneliness, and the American Dream.
Of Mice and Men took part in the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, where Sinise was nominated for the Palme d’Or award, given to the director of the best-featured film. After the film debuted in the United States on October 2, 1992, it received positive acclaim from critics.
Of Mice and Men (1992)
Directed by: Gary Sinise
Starring: John Malkovich, Gary Sinise, Casey Siemaszko, John Terry, Ray Walston, Joe Morton, Sherilyn Fenn, Alexis Arquette, Moira Sinise, Tuck Milligan, Joe D’Angerio
Screenplay by: Horton Foote
Production Design by: David Gropman
Cinematography by: Kenneth MacMillan
Film Editing by: Robert L. Sinise
Costume Design by: Shay Cunliffe
Set Decoration by: Joyce Anne Gilstrap, Karen Schulz Gropman
Art Direction by: Dan Davis
Music by: Mark Isham
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some scenes of violence.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: October 2, 1992
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