Lennie and George have been the subjects of a novel, an opera, radio and film adaptations, telefilms and even a Bugs Bunny parody, but it’s been since 1974 since Broadway has seen the iconic laborers that John Steinbeck so tragically limned in his Of Mice and Men. However, on Wednesday night a new production, staged by August: Osage County Tony winner Anna D. Shapiro, opened at Broadway’s Longacre Theater for a run through July 27.

Steinbeck published his landmark novel in 1937 and adapted it for the stage that same year, where Wallace Ford and Broderick Crawford played the migrant workers at the Music Box Theater. In 1974, Kevin Conway played tough and protective George to James Earl Jones’ dim-witted but dangerously clumsy Lennie.

Glamorous "Gossip Girl" and part-time singer Leighton Meester makes her Broadway debut as the ill-fated boss's wife in the show. The actress, who was also in "Country Strong" and the Adam Sandler flick, "That's My Boy", plays opposite "127 Hours" Oscar nominee James Franco (George) and the Lennie of Irish actor Chris O'Dowd (TV's "Family Tree" and "Girls").

So do Broadway critics think the new production of Of Mice and Men mans up or just squeaks by?

Chicago Tribune scribe Chris Jones calls the revival “straight-up but resonant” with “small but beautifully crafted, and deftly cast, performances.” He’s especially taken with Chris O’Dowd’s complex Lennie but feels James Franco holds back too much as a “cagey” George.

Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney agrees that “the wonderful” and “tremendous” Chris O’Dowd is something to see in the play, which Anna D. Shapiro directs with “a probing but delicate touch, and a sensitivity that extends to all the key characters.” He concludes, Tthis revival delivers the theatrical equivalent of sitting down with a dog-eared copy of a favorite novel.”

Also lauding Anna D. Shapiro’s work, Variety’s Marilyn Stasio says “the ensemble acting is flawless. The design work is breathtaking.” She finds O’Dowd “quite simply, heartbreaking” while Franco’s work is “equally honest and beautifully crafted.”

Giving the show a B grade, Entertainment Weekly’s Thom Geier appreciates James Franco’s “relaxed stage presence and real charisma” but is disappointed in the lack of nuance in the actor’s bigger moments. Like the other critics, he’s more impressed by O’Dowd and also has good words for Jim Norton and the “terrific” Ron Cephas Jones (as Crooks). Leighton Meester is “strikingly pretty” but “wan” in the production, that still “packs a wallop” in its second act.
In his **** review for the Daily News, Joe Dziemianowicz applauds director Shapiro for packing “shading and meaning into an evocative production” of a story that wasn’t exactly “subtle” to begin with. He also compliments the “ace cast” and says “Franco’s confident, straightforward, no-frills performance works just right.”

Elisabeth Vincentelli of the New York Post manages only *** for the show, complaining that Franco is “all surface” compared to O’Dowd, who “disappears into Lennie.” She does find the show “visually rewarding” and often “intense.”

Least appreciative of all the major critics is the New York Times’ Ben Brantley, who calls the production “respectable, respectful and generally inert.” It feels “about as fluid as a diorama in a history museum” and has leading men who “wear their archetypes like armor.” O’Dowd’s Lennie “gives the expected gentle-giant performance,” while Franco is too “tight, internal” and “understated” and the “glamorous” Meester is miscast.

Mark Kennedy, of the Associated Press, is less mean to the “pretty good” Franco, though he, too, like most other critics, finds O’Dowd “very impressive.” Like EW’s Thom Geier, Kennedy lauds the chemistry of Jim Norton and Ron Cephas Jones, though he grouses about Leighton Meester’s “inauspicious” debut and “flat” line readings that show her to be “way out of her depth. Still, the show and actors do “justice” to the famous final scene.

Even more complimentary is Newsday’s Linda Winer, who calls OMAM a “straightforward powerhouse of a revival…with inspiring trust in the impact of classic storytelling” with strong work from both leads and “an impressive core of loneliness alongside her eroticism” for Meester.

Perhaps the biggest rave comes from AM New York’s Matt Windman, who gives the production **** and calls it “gripping, gritty and emotionally shattering… [it] couldn’t get much better.”

OVERALL: Though New York Times critic Ben Brantley pans the show as “inert,” he’s the outlier here. All the other critics are decidedly positive, with a couple of raves. Chris O’Dowd emerges as a Tony front-runner, with critics split over whether Franco is underplaying too much or a perfect match for his co-star. Leighton Meester’s Broadway debut is less well received, with some critics appreciative but the rest either paying little attention or saying she’s out of her depth. Still, judging by the reviews, the play is almost a lock for a Best Revival Tony nomination (though I’d guess “Glass Menagerie” has the edge), with Anna D. Shapiro also likely to get a Best Director nod.