The 1992 movieThe Lawnmower Manis adapted from Stephen King’s short story but changes the story so much that the two works have nothing in common. King’s short story appeared in the publicationCavalierin the spring of 1975 and was republished inNight Shift, King’s book of short stories from 1978. There is also a video game and sequel,Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyperspacefrom 1996.
Stephen King sued New Line Cinemabecause the movie doesn’t actually tell the original story that he wrote and he didn’t want the movie to be calledStephen King’s The Lawnmower Man. King won in 1994.The Lawnmower Mandoes use Stephen King’s storyline or even any of his characters. What went wrong with this sci-fi movie?
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What Is The Lawnmower Man About?
The Lawnmower Manis about Dr. Larry Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) who does several experiments on Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a man who has an intellectual disability. Dr. Angelo claims that this work will make Jobe smarter, but Jobe ends up becoming a much crueler person. Like in manystories written by Stephen King, Jobe has telepathic and psychokinetic powers.
Dr. Angelo realizes that Jobe has changed the plan when Jobe says that he wants to essentially become part of the computer so he can take over the world. The rest ofThe Lawnmower Manbecomes a battle between these two characters. In contrast to the short story, which is about a lawnmower cutting grass all on its own, the movie becomes a generic tale of technology.
TheFirestarterremake was one of theworst sci-fi movies of 2022andThe Lawnmower Manfeatures a main character who has similar powers. Both movies fail to engage the audience or tell a unique story. Since many horror and sci-fi movies feature characters who can move things with their mind or control the world around them, Jobe doesn’t stand out.
How Is The Movie Different From Stephen King’s Short Story?
The Lawnmower Manis very different from the short story that Stephen King wrote. It’s about Harold Parkette who hires a company called Pastoral Greenery to mow his lawn. He’s enjoying some quiet time with a newspaper and hears the sound of a lawnmower, realizing that it’s mowing the lawn without any human operating it. The employee isn’t wearing any clothes and is eating grass and walking after it on all fours. Harold is so startled and freaked out that he passes out.
Theworst movies based on Stephen King’s workdon’t feel as fascinating and brilliant as his novels, novellas and short stories do. King has an incredible way with words and really sets the scene and paints a picture, no matter what he’s writing about. WhileThe Lawnmower Manmovie isn’t great, King’s short story is fast-paced and never fells dull for one moment.
The Lawnmower Manshort story becomes terrifying when the man says that this is a fresh way of cutting grass and if people don’t like it and think that it’s cool and innovative, they will be killed. When Harold phones the cops later on, the lawnmower man says he works for Pan, the ancient god, and then kills him. No one ever finds out what happened.
It’s hard to say thatThe Lawnmower Manfilm is anunderrated movie based on a short storybecause it completely changes the story. The movie adaptation fails because it doesn’t have anything to do with lawnmowers. Instead, it becomes a generic sci-fi story about humans vs. machines and it doesn’t say anything new or interesting.
How Does The Lawnmower Man End?
While there are somegreat Blumhouse horror movies about technology, these films are so much more entertaining thanThe Lawnmower Man. Jobe is able to achieve his goal of being a digital being in the VSI mainframe and no longer being human. Dr. Angelo tries to get rid of Jobe and puts several bombs in the building after making sure that Jobe is stuck in the computer. Jobe and Angelo face off in the computer and Jobe wins this round. Jobe tells Dr. Angelo to save Peter Parkette (Austin O’Brien), his ten-year-old friend, when Peter shows up.
Jobe is able to get back into the real world and save himself from dying in the bomb. The final scene ofThe Lawnmower Mansees Dr. Angelo sitting in his house with Carla (Rosalee Mayeux) and Carla’s son Peter. Soon, one phone rings and then every single phone that exists globally begins ringing. This makes it clear that Jobe achieved what he wanted.
This corny ending proves thatThe Lawnmower Manisn’t worth revisiting. It’s another example of asci-fi TV show and movie with confusing technologyand characters who feel like stereotypes rather than real people.The Lawnmower Mancan definitely be skipped.
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