theater: Franco and O’Dowd in
“Of Mice and Men”
Sunday, Dec. 7. With its screening of the National Theatre Live’s encore of the Broadway revival “Of Mice and Men,” the Denver Film Society offers us a chance to see what spring’s dust-up between actor James Franco and New York Times’ theater critic Ben Brantley was all about. The critic penned a perfectly thoughtful review. The star resorted to . Franco portrays George, caretaker of Chris O’Dowd’s massive “innocent” Lennie Small in the adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1937 novella. Directed by Anna D. Shapiro, the drama is handsome, for sure. Though like many a revival it poses (but did not entirely answer) the question, Why now? There’s a terse documentary — informative but oddly timed — wedged between acts. Even so, the broadcast earns its keep, in part by underscoring just what an intriguing hybrid this “live” theater via movie screen experience can be. Lisa Kennedy
