THE CABLE GUY
A film review by Scott Mendelson
Copyright 1997 Scott Mendelson
1996 96 min. rated PG-13 (profanity, brief violence)
Directed by Ben Stiller
Starring:
Matthew Broderick Jim Carrey Leslie Mann Ben Stiller
The Cable Guy will get attention for three things: for being the film that Jim Carrey first got $20 million for, the film that gave Carrey the chance to ssttrreettcchh, and for being Carrey's first minor box-office disappointment. The surprising thing is that it is a very good movie. It's Carrey's best to date and Broderick's best performance since The Freshman(a little seen masterpiece with Marlon Brando). When he's not watching television, Chip Douglas(Jim Carrey) works as a free-lance cable guy as a way to meet potential friends(he was fired from dozens of real companies for stalking customers). His latest target is Steven(Matthew Broderick), a man living alone after he was turned down for marriage to his girlfriend. At first, he seems friendly but strange, taking Steven to a huge satellite dish (where he believes the entire world's cable comes from), or to a restaurant called Medieval Times, where Steven and Chip joust in the center ring(watch for Janeane Garfalo in a great bit as a waitress at the restaurant). But, after awhile, Steven doesn't need Chip anymore(Mann has come back). Chip is deeply hurt by this and sets out to ruin Steven's life. He turns Steven's family against him, gets Steve fired, and gets him tossed in jail for receiving stolen property. Matthew Broderick is the perfect Jim Carrey foil. His calm, quiet, sane acting style blends perfectly with Carrey's anything goes method. They should make another movie together in the near future(How about if Broderick plays the bad guy in the next Mask picture?). The rest of the cast does it's job well, but the movie is simply a showcase for Matt and Jim. One of my problems with Batman Forever(and anyone who's read my VERY long statement about B.F.; i.e., the reason Joel Schulmacher deserves to die slowly and then burn in hell for all eternity, knows I have a few) was that despite Jim Carrey's witty take on Frank Gorshin's Riddler, Carrey didn't project a sense of menace. Well, he's solved that problem pretty well and I actually look forward to him taking on another psychopath. But, Chip is a truly pathetic character; a desperately lonely man who, because he grew up in front of the television(he learned the facts of life from "The Facts of Life"), cannot communicate in any normal fashion. Everything Chip Douglas knows, he learned from television. Every piece of advice he gives was from the tube, every joke he heard; from the tube, in essence, he IS television(no wonder his favorite restaurant is Medieval Times, its phony atmosphere is just like something that you'd see on TV). In the end, Chip's lack of knowledge of the real world has doomed him to live alone forever. He is such a tragic character that we(or at least I) wanted him to die. In the end, as he plunges from the cable dish(how perfect: the device that gave him "life" brings him death), we think that his suffering is over, that he is at last at peace(of course, Stiller copped out in letting Carrey live, as if watching him die would be too much for his young fans). Of course, this film is supposed to be a black comedy. It is very funny at times. During the first hour, Carrey's antic are silly, as usual(his singing of "Somebody to Love", during a karaoke party, is a classic). Even during the final 25 minutes, when Carrey takes on Broderick atop the dish, there is always a sense of spoof in the madness, I am particularly fond of the moment where Carrey mentions that real life doesn't have good suspense music; after which he starts humming the same tune on the soundtrack, or when he holds Mann hostage with... a staple gun. Best of all is a very funny subplot about a murder trial on the tube with former child sitcom star Stan Sweet(Ben Stiller) accused of murdering Sam Sweet(Ben Stiller), after their sitcom was canceled and they joined a religious cult(Stan claimed repeatedly on the 911 call that Asians killed his brother, a really nasty swipe at the Susan Smith case). Broderick once again proves he is a master at effective underacting, and Carrey proves he can play both good and evil. While the film is very funny, it was the creepy elements that entertained me. I'll remember Chip Douglas much longer than I'll remember AceVentura or Lloyd Christmas. "B+"
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