Review of The Cable Guy (1996) by Alexander Z — 13 Jan 2010

The real problem with this movie is that it makes Jim Carrey so unlikeable that you don't want to watch his antics. Every other actor in the movie is just there for him to bounce his psychotic character off of.

It gets tiresome very fast. Matthew Broderick is just there to be put upon. Owen Wilson is just there to be beat up. Jack Black is just there to be angry. Leslie Mann is just there to be fooled and then kidnapped.

And so on. The other problem is that it starts off with typical Jim Carrey wackiness, but then morphs into a more serious black comedy halfway through. There's no real transition. It's just suddenly there.

Problem is, it's not really funny. Hell, if the main character was any other actor than Carrey, it'd probably be considered a thriller as opposed to a comedy. That's how little humor The Cable Guy actually has (except for the cameo by Eric Roberts, which was very funny, and Jim Carrey's dunk at the basketball game).

Finally, some people say this is a satire. Granted, it borders on being one occasionally. There are some lines that are directly making fun of television, not to mention the countless number of references and in-jokes.

But, satire only succeeds when you attack a subject with wit and irony. The Cable Guy fails at this as well. I don't think it's underrated or ahead of it's time. It's just a mess. Tries to do too much and mix too many styles and ends up not doing much at all.