THE LAWNMOWER MAN (1992) **1/2 Not to pick just one of a litany of plot problems, but why, if Jeff Fahey, is so smart and omnipotent, can't he make Pierce Brosnan stop pondering the profundities of the universe in some manner that he must suspect reminds someone else of a scientist? Pierce is irritating at first, but when it never gets any better, and the lines think they're getting deeper and deeper, it gets funny. Brett Leonard and Stephen King (who sued to have his name removed-but he was willing to have it on Christine!?) trot out an ambitious script looking to score on many admirable counts-the balance of technology and humanity, the Frankenstein myth, old school Sci-Fi entertainment, new age graphics, corporate hegemony vs. humanity, the relationship between science and phenomenology, the proffered dialectic of exploitation or oppression of genius, questions of addiction and the chemical prophecy of drugs, and The Beggar's Opera in virtual reality-and I have to say that they score on every account. There is some tacked on romantic bullshit, but not until the very end, and I'm not entirely convinced that it, unlike Brosnan's ruminations, isn't the manifestation of some strangely whacked sense of humour. Geoffrey Lewis is always admirable as a pickup truck guy, and Leonard manages to only stick his little toe into the sexual implications of entrusting one's senses to a video helmet. Thank you. Reviewers seem about split down the middle over whether it's superficial or profound, which suggests they did something right.
back to Brilliant Observations on 1776 Films home
go back home, or send me email
no more reviews! I want to buy your novel!