John SteinbeckÃ"â??s classic comes magnificently to life in this beautiful and stirring film starring OscarÂ(r) nominees* John Malkovich and Gary Sinise. Directed by Sinise from an adaptation by OscarÂ(r) winner* Horton Foote, this flawless miracle of movie-makingâ? (Susan Granger, â??American Movie Classicsâ?) is a must-see for all audiences. Best friends Lennie (Malkovich) and George (Sinise) find themselves unemployed in Depression-era California, unable to keep jobs because of Lennieâ??s childlike mentality. But once they get hired at the Tyler Ranch, they enjoy a brief period of stabilityâ?" until their supervisor's wife (Sherilyn Fenn) becomes the victim of Lennieâ??s compassion, forcing George to make a compassionate decision of his own.

A strong argument favors Gary Sinise's 1992 Of Mice and Men over the classic 1939 version that critics have historically preferred. As adapted by the great playwright-screenwriter Horton Foote, John Steinbeck's Depression-era masterpiece comes alive with timeless simplicity, more candid in language and behavior, and therefore more honest in its embrace of Steinbeck's beloved pair of lowly dreamers George (Sinise) and his retarded cousin Lennie (John Malkovich). On the lam, they find work as farmhands, joining a close-knit crew and trying to avoid trouble stirred by the dangerously seductive wife (Sherilyn Fenn) of the boss's sadistic son (Casey Siemaszko). There's not a false note or bad performance in the entire film; as veterans of Chicago's acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater, Malkovich and Sinise possess the compassionate chemistry that makes George and Lennie inseparable until the tragic, inevitable final scene. As director, Sinise serves the material with no-frills fidelity; it's easy to believe that Steinbeck would have approved. --Jeff Shannon