Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men (1992) is Gary Sinise's adaptation of John Steinbeck's novella, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Sinise directed and co-starred alongside John Malkovich, having first staged the material theatrically — a background that shows in every scene.

George and Lennie are Depression-era ranch hands drifting through California looking for work. George is sharp and cautious, perpetually cleaning up after Lennie, who is enormous, gentle, and possessed of a strength he cannot fully control. Their shared dream is small: a few acres, a house, some rabbits. The job at Tyler Ranch feels like progress. Then it isn't.

Malkovich's Lennie is a genuinely difficult performance to pull off — sympathetic and frightening in the same moment, never condescending — and he makes it look effortless. Sinise plays George as a man who has been tired for a long time, which is exactly right. The film is lean, faithful to Steinbeck, and completely uninterested in softening what the story is about. Stream Of Mice and Men (1992) online on iFILM.