The Cable Guy (1996)

Dark slice of comedy pie from Carrey & Stiller.

As with everything in life, the internet also has its good and bad angles. Here with The Cable Guy, I myself salute the internet highway and in particular the many users of IMDb who have come forth to support this most divisive of movies. Lambasted on release by regarded critics and chided by many a cinema goer who went in expecting Mask & Ace Ventura like fluff, The Cable Guy was thought to be the death knell for Carrey's career. It wasn't of course. He would revert to pleasing box office friendly type the following year with "Liar Liar", and would continue to surprise with his choice of roles, and the performances with them, in the likes of "The Truman Show", "Man On The Moon" & "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind". As a point of reference with his career overview, The Cable Guy stands up as a bold choice by Carrey, and one that serves notice of his willingness, and ability, to take on more challenging roles.

The film itself is a mixture of high Carrey comedy mixed with dark, almost horror undertones. The thematics of loneliness and the need for companionship makes for an odd bedfellow with the berserker antics of Carrey as he plays off of Matthew Broderick's ordinary Joe. Yet director Ben Stiller, the cop out finale aside, has achieved the cheeky fusion with much success. Utilising Carrey's energy as both a force of comic nature, and a bubbling under the surface desperado loony tune. Along the way, well before it goes real dark and gets edgy, we are treated to some delightful comedy moments. A Karaoke sequence and dinner at Medieval Times stand out, but the knowing jokes referencing movies and the TV infatuated world are also unheralded, and astute stabs of fun. Far from perfect it be, but it's a film that was badly timed, or even, misunderstood by the scribes of the time. Thank the lord for the internet for we can now find those prepared to admit they like much about The Cable Guy. Yes, I be one of those hardy souls too. 7/10

Jun 15, 2020

<em>'The Cable Guy'</em> should've worked for me. It didn't. I'm a big fan of Jim Carrey movies but I found this to be dreadful, it's the first film of his that I've found to be forcibly poor. It kinda leaves a bad taste too, given the main two characters are unlikeable.

Nothing about this pleased me, despite a good cast list. As already noted with Carrey, but I also don't mind Matthew Broderick and Leslie Mann. There are plenty of famous faces elsewhere too, from Owen Wilson to Jack Black to Ben Stiller (also director). Bob Odenkirk even makes an appearance. Despite all that, this frustrates.

I'm usually one to be swayed by a starry cast too, so me disliking this as strongly is saying something to be honest. The plot just felt like a five-minute short stretched out to ninety minutes. You can tell where the story is going from basically the get-go, which is particularly a negative when you don't give the audience (or just me, possibly) a reason to want to watch any of those onscreen.

The karaoke bit with "Somebody to Love" is probably the only scene that I'll come close to remembering positively. An annoying disappointment, this one.

Mar 12, 2025