Why
I Saw This Movie: I was assigned to teach the novel
Of Mice and Men to an advanced
English class, and after we finished reading the novel we watched the movie
together.
My
History With the Novel: I first encountered the
novel when my 10th grade English teacher read it aloud to us. Since then, I have taught the novel (or the
Graded Reader Version) 3 times to ESL classes.
My
History With the Movie: I’ve managed to avoid
seeing this movie until now, but of course I’ve been aware of it for years from
various pop culture references, such as the various winks and nods to John
Malkovich’s role in this movie in Being John Malkovich.
The
Review
Very
faithful to the book, and very well done for what it is. This is probably the best adaptation of
Steinbeck’s novel we can hope for.
But
unfortunately, some novels don’t successfully transfer onto the screen, and this
is probably one of them. Characters who
seem so lifelike and real in the book just come across as flat and boring on
the screen.
Other
Things I’d Talk About If I Wasn’t Limiting Myself to 100 Words
* At some point, the discussion should be
had about what makes a successful novel, and what makes a successful movie, and
why some unforgettable novels make for some very forgettable movies—but someone
smarter than me will probably have to tackle that question.
Rating :
5 out of 10 Stars. (It’s not a great movie as a movie, but it’s
the best adaptation of the novel that we could have hoped for, and it’s
competently done, so it gets at least a 5.)
Link of the Day
2 comments:
I saw this in a theatre, back in the day, and recall being especially charmed by the horseshoe scene. The movie doesn't have nearly the poignancy of the book, as you say. But that particular visual quirk somehow added to the quality of the book, I thought.
Yeah I'll go along with that. The horseshoe scene was a nice beat. It was nice to see what those guys did for relaxation on a Sunday afternoon
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