Review of The Cable Guy (1996) by Rich P — 10 Apr 2010

In hindsight it is very easy to see why this film caused so much trouble when it came out. Jim Carrey was coming off of screwy goofball movies like "Ace Ventura" and "Dumb and Dumber" and this was advertised as much of the same. When I saw this movie on opening night with a sold out crowd of obvious Jim Carrey fans they became steadily angry as the movie got weirder and scarier. By the time the movie ended well over half the audience had walked out! The other half complained to no end about how they wanted their money back or how Jim Carrey no longer seemed funny but rather sad and pathetic. Clearly blurring the line between performance and reality there. But I digress. The movie itself was indeed sold as something it is clearly not. But letting that go and just flowing with the movie presented to me I had an absolute blast watching it for the first time. It was the first time I saw a movie where a actor I was used to seeing act one way go the complete opposite. Sure there are your usual Jim Carrey moments in this film but for the most part he is just barnstorming this character to oblivion. This is not a nice guy. This character is deranged, disturbed and dislikable. But that is why this is such a exhilarating rollar coaster of a movie. In fact the scenes depicting his most sinister moments are my favorite. They have an actual sense of menace in them. Take the scene where Mathew Broderick is walking to his car and all the car alarms start going off and the song "More human than human" by White Zombie is playing. Most thrillers don't have as much suspense as that scene. Or the dream sequence where Carrey is at Brodericks door and won't leave and he has glowing green eyes and bursts the door open with his head and chases Broderick down like a demon from hell. Creepy with a capitol "What the hell are they doing with this!?".

Or when Jim Carrey beats the living crap out of Owen Wilson cause Brodericks seperated wife takes a fancy to him. And I don't even want to get into what the hell is going on in the climax. In the end this is not a film for everybody (ok most people) and I can understand that. To some at the time it is like what would have happend if John Wayne played a American hating communist in one of his 60's glory days movies. The only things about this film I didn't like was when they attempted to give Carrey's character some sympathetic background. While I appreciate filmmakers rounding out a character's development these scenes have an oddly dramatic and sad air to them. They don't gell with the satiric and offputting nature of the rest of the movie. And some of Jim Carrey's schtick was growing old even at this point. Something that has become crystal clear in recent years with releases like "Lemony Snicket" and to a lesser extent "Yes Man" and "Fun with Dick and Jan". I would have loved a full blown dark drama character portrait of the character played by Jim Carrey. Or a more watered down broad comedy variation of this flick. Nonetheless Ben Stiller, director here, deserves kudos for messing with the Jim Carrey persona to such an extent that people loudly booed the film while paying to see it, executives at Columbia Pictures were fired and a reputation that its a flop when it really made over a $100 million dollars of a cost of 60 million. This is an original movie and no one has tried to replicate it in any way. And probably never will. Jim Carrey is a strange bird.