THE LAWNMOWER MAN
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: In THE LAWNMOWER MAN, a mix of virtual reality and mind-expanding drugs turn a mentally retarded handyman into a psychic monster. The film borrows heavily from ALTERED STATES, FORBIDDEN PLANET, and CHARLY, and pays back in some nice computer graphics and an over-used revenge plot. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4).
Dr. Lawrence Angelo (played by Pierce Brosnan) is one more Stephen King character being exploited by the evil government intelligence agency "The Shop." His experiments with drug-enhancing virtual reality not only make the effect more complete, it may actually be raising the intelligence of his chimpanzee subject. Unfortunately, the chimp does not want to find out. The ape picks the lock of his cage and is killed walking to freedom, zapping humans as he goes. Angelo continues with Jobe (Played by Jeff Fahey), a mentally retarded lawn man.
In over-used King style (perhaps "pseudo-King" since King had little to do with the story in the film), Jobe lives in a world of people willing to torment him because he is so powerless. If only he had the intelligence and power to get back at his tormenters. But then the brain boost he is getting from the ultimate video game and psycho-active drugs starts giving him a super intellect as well as telekinetic powers. As Angelo's wife tells him early in the film, "It may be the future to you, Larry, but it's the same old shit to me." She obviously knows her Stephen King films. Other lines seem downright silly. "He learned Latin in two hours! It took me a year to learn the Latin alphabet." That may well be true, Larry, but I assume you were about four years old at the time.
If the plot is overly predictable--and believe me, it is--the computer graphics are spectacular. They may not always make sense. Jobe's new girlfriend sneaks into the lab to try the virtual reality equipment. While she appears to be the first woman who has been in the lab, the computer knows to visualize her virtual reality body as a female. The computer visuals make one wish this film had been shot in 3-D. Even shot flat, the visuals are quite a trip.
The screenplay is loosely based on the short story by Stephen King. (No, let me correct that: it is tightly based on a Stephen King story title. It has virtually nothing to do with King's story of a lawnman who worships the God Pan.) It was written by the director Brett Lawrence and the producer Gimel Everett. It is dedicated to the memory of the co-producer, the late Milton Subotsky. Those of you who are fans of British horror film will remember some classics, particularly anthology films such as THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD, ASYLUM, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, and BEYOND THE GRAVE that were co-produced in the 1960s by Subotsky for his production company Amicus Films. His last film was typical for him: entertaining but not heavy on thought. I would rate THE LAWNMOWER MAN a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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