THE CABLE GUY
A film review by Larry McGillicuddy
Copyright 1996 Larry McGillicuddy
*** (out of 4) Dir.- Ben Stiller Cast- Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, George Segal, Diane Baker, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick.
Review- Many performers don't take chances. They stick with what made them famous and decide to continue with that until people find someone else who can do the same thing just as good. Well, Jim Carrey takes a chance here, albeit a safe one. He's still up to his old antics, but in a much darker and odd way. I admire him for that.
Matthew Broderick stars as a young executive recently separated from his wife. One day, his cable goes out. so he calls the cable company. Of course, the cable guy arrives late, and at an inopportune time. Broderick slips him $50 to get free cable channels. Chip does it for him, and thinks hes found a new friend. Broderick humors him at first, but when Chip starts to get a little pushy, such as getting a prostitute for him, Broderick tries to back out of the friendship.
The rest of the movie deals with Carrey making a living hell out of Broderick's life. The movie is quite creative in the situations the characters are placed in. A game called Porno Password is played at the home of Broderick's parents. In the movies funniest scene, Carrey purposely flirts with Broderick while Broderick is in prison and other prisoners are watching. There is also amusing happenings at a basketball game, and a hilarious jousting battle between the two at Medieval Times.
Ben Stiller has creativity in almost every scene. He paces the film well, and gets amusing cameos from Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick, both alumni of his wonderful tv show, The Ben Stiller Show. Broderick plays it straight, and does a very good job of it. But the movie belongs to Carrey, of course, and he gives his best performance yet. And at the end, Stiller wonderfully explains the message of the movie in a very amusing sequence. The Cable Guy has a dark, satrirical edge to it that is very refreshing, but may not be embraced by most of Carrey's fans. If you're looking for Ace Ventura 3, this is the wrong movie. If you're looking for an energetic and intelligent black comedy, see this movie.
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