The Lawnmower Man

The Lawnmower Man (1992)

** (out of 4)

Lawrence Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) is a scientist who is experimenting with virtual reality. He decides to try his experiment on a mentally challenged man named Jobe (Jeff Fahey) and before long he turns into a genius. Of course, being from Stephen King, Jobe eventually begins to suffer a breakdown and soon chaos breaks out.

When I first watched this movie in theaters I honestly didn't care too much about it. For some reason I ended up watching it a second time and cared for it even less. Then it hit DVD and I tried the film again and still, you guessed it, I didn't like it. The film has now been released on a Special Edition Blu-ray so for some reason I checked it out again and believe it or not I actually think it has aged somewhat well.

It's funny but at the time the film was released the only thing people were talking about were the special effects. The CGI effects on display here were quite new for the era but I think it's safe to say they haven't held up as well as some other famous "CGI" movies out there. With that said, the effects are still somewhat creative and I think the virtual reality sequences are rather good for what they are. The direction of the effects were at least good and these images at least keep you somewhat entertained.

The problem with the film is that you're basically watching a rather cheap horror movie that doesn't have too much to say. I'm not sure if the much longer Director's Cut is better or not but the theatrical version seems very long at its 106-minute running time. The film really drags at times and there's no suspense to be had and there's really not too much of a connection to the character. It's cool seeing Brosnan before his James Bond days but he's rather bland here. Fahey actually does a good job with the role of the slow Jobe and he's believable in this aspect of the character as well as when he becomes smarter.

THE LAWNMOWER MAN isn't an awful movie but it's a rather boring mess that just never really comes together.