FREE ESSAY ON OF MICE AND MEN FILM CRITIQUE

OF MICE AND MEN FILM CRITIQUE

Of Mice and Men Movie Critique
Overall, I thought the Of Mice and Men movie was fantastic and very well done by Gary
Sinise. Gary Sinise is the director of the movie and also plays the role of George. This
movie was made in 1992, and for a fairly old movie it is very nice. I feel that the movie
is at a much higher level in entertainment than the book it was derived from. In the
movie you can actually see and hear things that you probably would not catch on to in the
book. For example there are the facial expressions from the talented actors and
actresses. 
The music soundtrack of Of Mice and Men is very well composed. At the very beginning of
the movie, a spirited mood was set in the audience when we saw Lennie and George running
away from these men who were chasing them. I especially liked how the music is classical,
which is very appealing to all age groups and genders. The music was a huge part of the
movie; it set the mood for the scene the audience was seeing. The instruments used in the
songs were very effective, such as the violin. 
The setting in the movie was just as it was described in the book. The time setting of
the story takes place in the 1930s, when there is the Great Depression. It seems to take
place in the southern part of the United States, because of the increased ethnic tensions
we see in the movie. For example there is Crooks, who is isolated from everyone else
because of the color of his skin. Also, the clothing worn by the actors were very true to
the time frame. The audience can actually feel that they are back in that time period by
watching this movie. The clothing worn by Lennie and George showed that they were not
well off, as were the majority of the population during the Great Depression. In the
movie, the actors were very good. In scenes the audience would get emotional. An example
is when Carlson shoots Candy's old dog, and Candy lies down on the bed and tosses and
turns in pain. In the movie, I actually felt sympathetic for Curley's wife since she
seemed to always be the victim. This is something I had not felt in the book. Also, the
very last scene when George shoots Lennie and then he starts to cry.
In many ways the movie is very similar to the book. Right from the beginning of the movie
you can see that Lennie has a mental illness, and George is taking care of him like a
father. Also, you can tell that George gets impatient with Lennie numerous times and that
he gets frustrated very easily. The character's speeches were very strong in language,
just like the speeches were in the novel. The characters in the movie are almost exactly
like their book counterparts. Lennie is very big and bulky, while George is small with a
tanned face. In the movie, Lennie is absolutely crazy about rabbits, if not more than in
the book. Throughout the movie we see time and time again how much Lennie cares for
rabbits, he says numerous times, An' I get to tend the rabbits! Whenever he says that you
can see the gleam in his eye. Slim is well respected, and he acts and dresses like he is
the best without being a showoff. We get this feeling that Curley OWNS his wife and
pushes her around. This is evident when we actually see him yelling at her to go home
where she belongs, and shutup, I wasn't talking to you! Also, Curley's wife tells George
and Lennie outside the barn one night how Curley broke all her records because she would
charge ten cents for a dance. 
Like most films derived from novels, there are many differences. In the very beginning of
the movie we see why George and Lennie are running away. They are running away because
Lennie had accidentally harassed a girl by grabbing on to her dress and not letting go of
it. In the movie I had felt that George only took care of Lennie because he had to, not
because he wanted to. Even though George had promised Lennie's Aunt Clara to care for
him, he did not seem to enjoy it one bit. This was evident when George kicks Lennie
several times when he was drinking water saying to not drink too much. By the book I had
sensed that Lennie and George were young and in their late 20s. In the movie, Lennie
looked much older since he was beginning to get bald, but that may have been due to the
mental illness. In the movie several scenes contained some sprinkles of humor, while the
movie did not seem to have any funny moments. Humor was shown when George tells Lennie
that if I were a relative of yours, I'd shoot myself! When Candy told George that Curley
had a glove full of Vaseline for his wife, everyone started laughing. Even though it
seemed to be a humorous moment, I found nothing funny about that at all. There is no
scene in the movie, which Candy curses at Curley's wife (who is dead in the barn) about
messing things up. Also, there is no scene in the movie where Candy tells Crooks of his
plan to live with Lennie and George. Even though there were some differences that the
novel, these omitted or added scenes helped the level of entertainment in the movie.
These are all the reasons why I think the Of Mice and Men movie was very good. 
Bibliography
Of Mice and Men movie; 1992; Director: Gary Sinise