-THE CABLE GUY-
'The Cable Guy' was released in 1996 .- Directed by Ben Stiller (Reality Bites) and starring Jim Carrey, Jack Black and Steven M Kovaks. - Genre: Comedy/Thriller. - BBFC Rating: 12 (cut) - Running Time: 96 Minutes.The Cable Guy is a black Comedy that was ahead of it's time and is mesmerising in its approach to the darker side of comedy. Highly watchable. A film which peaks and troughs from comedy to near horror.
When a young guy Steve Kovack (Matthew Broderick) moves into his new apartment after splitting up with his girlfriend, he can't wait to get the cable TV installed. - Enter 'The Cable Guy' Chip! AKA Ernie Douglas (Jim Carrey) as the extremely strange cable TV installer; with great delight Chip gives Steve a package of cable TV consisting of over 100 channels, for free. Steve tries to slip him $50 dollars for his trouble, as is customary in the States, but all 'this' cable guy wants is a friend.
Now Chip is no ordinary guy, having been dumped in front of the cable TV as a child, and not been given any motherly attention, the emotionally neglected Chip is a bit of a twisted and manic character who is desperately in need of human contact and a true lifelong friend. Steve is a bit of a weak character and doesn't want to upset the man who has just given him free cable, so he goes along with it and pretends to be his friend, thinking it will only be for the short haul and he intends to dump this very strange character as soon as. Little does Steve know that in doing so he will turn the cable guy into a demented stalker. What ensues is a deliciously dark and hilarious satire which embarks upon displaying the effects that the obsessive television age can have upon the consumer. -
Another Jim Carey film I absolutely love! This is a strange and fantastically original theme once again, with a message that is obvious to see. Chip has been raised by television. He is in effect the product of the television age in so much that the cable TV has substituted his mother and become in effect, his parent. So all the messages that the TV programmes have given out to the young and impressionable Chip through his formative years, have instilled in him what life is supposedly all about. Giving him a distorted and unreal image of the world he lives in. Being unable to separate fact from fiction Chip lives in a neo virtual reality and his creepy personality defects impact upon everyone that this weird cable guy comes into contact with.
I love the way Jim Carrey portrays the character of Chip. He gives him a really menacing edge that is actually quite scary. I totally forgot I was watching Jim Carrey at some points of the film and that aspect paired with the black humour works really well. Jim Carrey does a brilliant characterisation of Chip always retaining that scary factor of a man whose mind is seriously deranged. There are some wonderful comedy scenes in Cable Guy notably the 'Karaoke Party Scene' when Carrey sings "Somebody to love" by Jefferson Airplane. This is a fabulous display of black comedy at its best. His use of facial expressions is totally brilliant. There is another scene which is actually my favourite in the film when Chip charges at Steve's door. There is something really surreal about it and I love the way the camerawork approaches this scene.
The film has a sinister feel to it most of the way through, and though it is broken up by the comedic moments this is basically quite a creepy tale. The unstable and extreme characteristics of Chip are really quite scary as he is so unpredictable and Carrey plays out the part of the crazed stalker extremely well. I think this is when Carrey's real characterisations were really coming into play and showing his own unique talent for comedy. Jack Black is excellent as Steve's friend bringing some nice humour to the proceedings as are some of the other minor roles which were well played particularly in the party scene. I think Ben Stiller's directorial debut was quite marked on this film, and apart from being a comedy actor I hold in high regard I also found him extremely impressive with the directing of his first film. I think Cable Guy is pretty underrated on the whole because it is a strange mix of very dark humour and slapstick comedy.
This is an unusual part for Jim Carrey to have played and I think a lot of people didn't know what to make of it. Personally I liked the way the film portrayed the loneliness of people. Chip for his lack of skill in social interaction and Steve for his shy and introverted qualities; both being insular characters really and yet the film showed the importance of television on both their respective lives. The cinematography is brilliant and aided really well to the surreal and strange nature of the film. The film is totally unpredictable and uneven and you are not quite sure as to where it will take you next. Basically the message that the film is trying to put across is that of the effect of television, videogames and the internet on the psyche. Feeling that they can alienate people and makes them anti-social and in the worst case scenario, can promote and antagonise possible deep rooted imperfections in personalities and bring out traits of psychopath, stalker or serial killer.
The Cable Guy is regarded as being darker than most of Carrey's previous work, because he plays a weirdo stalker. Audiences weren't quite sure if they liked Carrey in this kind of role or not and the critics gave the film mixed reviews. It is a pretty odd film but its one I really like because of its difference. It makes you ponder. It isn't just pure comedy entertainment, or chill a minute, it goes a lot deeper than that and even when there are comedy moments you are still in reflective mode from the messages that are woven through the films storyline within the dark humour.
I think Cable Guy is quite a unique film and it manages to mix very dark humour with lighter moments of comedy. Basically Cable Guy it is a satirical tale of warning against the modern age and its machines. Darkly alarming and oddly hilarious, scenes of happy slapping, ear clapping and head butting were edited from the film for obvious reasons. Cable Guy is a strange film which takes a tongue in cheek swipe at the media of television, and videogames in the main, saying that they brainwash you and take over your mind.-
-Starring-
Jim Carrey
Matthew Broderick
Leslie Mann
Jack Black
George Segal
Diane Baker
Directed by
Ben Stiller
Written by
Lou Holtz Jr.
Music by John Ottman
Cinematography Robert Brinkmann
Summary: A strangely brilliant film.