Unlike most other cinema club reviews this will contain a proper review as it’s a one off event so…

SPOILERS

We have been waiting to watch this for the last 3 years when we found out this was going to be on Broadway, then when it was announced it was going to be broadcast in cinemas in the uk we waited for another 18 months, so last night November 19th 2015 the day arrived. Me my sister & her fiance all went into town to watch Of Mice and Men.

We are three people with totally different tastes in films books and TV, yet reading this at GCSE for our exams we all agree that it is one of the best stories ever. Maybe it was because i read it about 15 times before my test, but its just amazing. So for the three of us to go you know what lets all see it is something.

So brief synopsis for those who havent read it. George & Lenny travel and work together across america in the 1920’s going from job to job, trying to earn enough money for them to have there own house and land. Lenny is is a gentle giant who is simple, and George takes responsibility for him as he always seems to get in trouble, as he doesn’t realise his own strength. At the new ranch they work at, Lenny is picked on by the bosses son Curly, whos just got married, who attacks him, and George says Lenny needs to defend himself so breaks Curlys arm. Curlys new wife who is a flirt with the workers the next day trys to befriend Lenny before she leaves Curly, and sees Lenny upset that he has killed his new Puppy. After an altercation Lenny kills her, by accident, and runs away to where George says he should hide. George realising this has happened trys to reason with everyone, so Lenny can go to jail, but the other workers dont agree. The story ends with George finding Lenny, telling him the dream of there house together, before he kills him, knowing Lenny died in a happy state of mind.

James Franco & Chris O’Dowd played George and Lenny. Both were amazing, and both thoroughly deserved their Nominations for Oliviers. However i couldnt get my head around Chris O’Dowd in the play. He has someone i’ve  grown up watching at a comedy actor who goes hello IT have you tried turning it off and on again, that is now a serious Hollywood actor. He was also really bulked up for the performance too. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, and it didnt matter that id had the occasional Irish twang, it worked. Especially as Franco’s southern accent was brilliant. Franco was just superb to, my sister tho couldnt get her head round him being George, as she just saw him as James Franco.

The rest of the cast were brilliant too, Candy & Curlys wife were what i always remembered from my visions of the book. Perfect.

We did cry, well me and my sister anyhow did, her other half didnt. Even though we knew what was coming at the end, when Slim leaves him to speak to Lenny i felt the tear trickle down my face.

I know its a theatre production but its so weird to have an interval, that was really odd. Really strange, i know in the play there was one but imagine if they did that in the middle of The Dark Knight or Skyfall… as you have recorded it, let it run. Also as a British audience we laughed at different points to the american audience which was strange.

Id say our cinema was 75% full and also about 40% of the people in there were kids that were either just about to sit there exams or had done so in the last year, that were with their teachers, which really gives me hope. We were just one cinema in the country showing it, if that was the case for the other 300 places showing it on thursday, then thank god. Its also a fuck you to Michael Gove, who said Of Mice & Men will no longer be on the GCSE curriculum anymore as its not a British Classic… How dare he when it means so much to all these people watching a show that was performed 18 months ago.

We completely loved it and all just came out full of emotion, and pride. What a performance. If only i had lived in America to have seen it properly live 18 months ago.