THE CABLE GUY
A film review by Chris Casino
** out of **** (Fair for cable, don't go out of your way).
Director: Ben Stiller, Writers: Lou Holtz, Jr., and Judd Apatow, Cast: Jim Carrey (The Cable Guy), Matthew Broderick (Steven Kovacs), Leslie Mann (Robin), Rick (Jack Black), George Segal (Steven's Father), Eric Roberts (himself), Jeanne Gorafalo (Serving Wench), Andy Dick (Host).
I'll admit it, I'm not a very big Jim Carrey fan. THE MASK was very good, but that was about the highlight of his career. BATMAN FOREVER was good too, but that had nothing to do with him at all. However, I had heard this film was very different from what he usually does, I decided to watch it when it premiered on HBO last night and see what all the fuss was about. This was also the movie which earned Carrey twenty million dollars.
Was it worth it?
In short: Nope!
Carrey plays this lispy Cable installer who grew up in front of the television, and learned everything he knows from TV. It's so bad in fact that he even assumes so many aliases of TV characters that we never learn his real name. One day, he arrives at the home of Steven Kovacs, an innocent, likable guy played nicely by Matthew Broderick, who has just been kicked out of his apartment by his girlfriend, Robin (appealingly played by Leslie Mann), whom he loves and will do anything to win back, including blow off all of his buddies. Anyhow, Carrey juices him up with free cable, and after that latches onto him like a bee on honey by calling him day and night and showing up wherever he goes. He even gives him advice on how to win Robin back. Steven hangs around with him for a while, but after the Cable Guy wins Robin back for him, he blows him off, and that's when this movie really starts to get weird. The Cable Guy gets poor Steven fired from his job, he wrecks his apartment, he gets him arrested, and he even lies about Steven to Robin and his parents. Talk about fatal friendship, huh?
We gradually learn that the Cable Guy is so desperate for a friend because he never had any of his own, he was always in front of the television as his Mom always went out at night and left him with a babysitter.
Instead of being the usual kooky Carrey comedy, it's a darker comedy for him, which doesn't really work because he really has no acting ability. This movie proves that. He is his goofy self here, but that doesn't work in a comedy like this. He can't act like a real actor at all, and I hope people realize he can't before he starts to make dramatic movies and proves that for himself.
Roger Ebert stated this film could've been funnier if it wasn't a story about how deeply troubled the Cable Guy is. It's not true. The deeply troubled Cable Guy story has a message behind it: Kids who watch too much TV can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality when they grow up, which is true for most kids. But Carrey movies with messages don't work, because he can't be serious, and if he tried, he'd screw it up.
Jim Carrey stated you could never figure the Cable Guy out, whether he really needs a friend or whether he's playing with Steven, which isn't true. I figured him out, he's a lonely nut. The one I most felt sorry for was Matthew Broderick, both character and actor. Steven Kovacs is a nice guy who loves his girlfriend, and does not need to be hounded and terrorized like he is, and Matthew Broderick is a good, talented actor who deserves better scripts than this, and better actors to work with than Jim Carrey. He does a good job, but an actor of his stature doesn't really belong in this movie, and I asked myself watching it,"Why's he in this movie? Especially since a guy he's a much better actor than is getting a lot more money than he is?"
It's fatal flaw is it's dark side. Because it's so dark and convincing, if you're not an anti-social loner, you'll become one after you see this movie, and if you are, this'll make you proud of it.
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