Somewhere in California two men are making their way trough the wood to a ranch where they expect to find work. George, the small and keen one of the two, goes in front. Lennie, a big man with a very disturbed brain, but with some really big biceps, come after him. Lennie has been accused of assaulting a girl and that’s why they had to leave the town. Lennie wanted to stroke her dress, because it seemed soft. Lennie love soft, furry things, but he can’t have a pet, because they all die under the pressure of his big hands. George couldn’t always prevent Lennie from getting in trouble and together they travelled from ranch to ranch, trying to gather as much money as the need to get their own farm, where Lennie could tend rabbits.

Sometimes, when Lennie does some of these bad things, George feels tempt to go away on his own and leave Lennie, but their lifelong friendship stops him. When George and Lennie arrives the ranch, the “man” doesn’t seem very nice. He says George and Lennie should arrive the previous day and he was really damned.

When George meets the farmer’s son, Curley, he immediately senses trouble. Curley was used to get into fights with big man and beat them at boxing, just to make up his small size. George tries to keep Lennie away from Curley. His only wish is to save money so they can get their own place to settle. One they, an old worker at he farm with a bad arm, offering his savings. He was asking to become George’s partner. The dreams now come closer to the reach.

One day Curley’s fury is directed to Lennie, because he found his wife making eyes at the men. Lennie is forced to defend himself against the boxer, but as he gets hold of one of Curley’s hands he crushes all the bones in Curley’s hand. Luckily for George and Lennie, Curley tells everybody that he hurt his hand in a machine. When Lennie one day gets a puppy from one of the workers, he kills it in the same way as all the other little things he gets into his hands. He now thinks that George won’t let him gets rabbits when they buy the ranch. He hides the dead puppy in the barn. When Lennie sits in the barn and figuring what he has done, Curley’s wife appear. She starts to talk to him and invites him to stroke her soft hair. Lennie is excited by the soft hair and his strokes getting more intense every time. Curley’s wife is afraid and starts to scream for help. Lennie tries to stop her screaming and shakes her head, but unfortunately he breaks her neck. When he realizes she is dead, he escape to the bushes where George had told him to hide if anything went wrong.

When the body is found, the ranchmen and Curley, organize a search for Lennie. Curley wants to shoot him by himself. But George knows where Lennie hides and gets to him first. They sat down and talked about the little farm they wanted to buy, and Lennie’s rabbits. George reminds Lennie of the fact that they are happier than other people because of their friendship. George asks Lennie to look away across the river and turn his head. He takes a gun and places it against the back of Lennie’s head, and shoots. He knew Curley would find him. There where the only way.