Review

The Cable Guy

Reviewed by

NADEEM KHAN

The Players:

Cable Guy: Jim Carrey

Steven: Matthew Broderick

Robin: Leslie Mann

Rick: Jack Black

Steven's Father: George Segal

Directed by: Ben Stiller.

Written by: Lou Holtz Jr.

Running time: 91 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for dark thematic elements and crude humor.

Maybe the commercials and the previews jaded me. Everywhere I looked Jim Carrey was there, contorting his countenance, digging deep, as he always does, in order to squeeze a smile. When I heard his new movie was titled "The Cable Guy," I was mentally prepared to see Ace Ventura, Pet Detective in overalls; a few yards of cable wound around his shoulder. The ribald comedy would then ensue, I alerted myself. Matthew Broderick, I was informed by a preview, is pestered by an attention-seeking cable installer, who, try as hard as Broderick does, just could not be shaken. Which would have made for an acceptable form of entertainment for those amidst us who loathe exercising the noodle once ensconced in a theater seat. Children, particularly, would not have objected to a typical Carrey fare. Somewhere in that preview, I must have overlooked the words "dark comedy". I say "must have" because I don't remember going to the theaters with the intention of spending the next hour and a half in the company of a dark comedy. Looking back, I think it was a mental block--I had set out to understand just what $20 million dollars (yes, that's what Mr. Carrey was paid for his exertion) could translate to on-screen.

Chip Douglas (Jim Carrey) is not your average cable installer, with the exception that he drags Steven Kovak (Matthew Broderick) out of the shower at an odd hour with the view of affixing cable service in the apartment. Chip is, and I suspect this took no great effort on Carrey's part, a silly looking individual. Within seconds of his arrival on screen, Carrey quickly cuts a familiar figure, and his first scene would have fit nicely in Pet Detective I. Chip lisps too, and that throws a blanket of harmlessness over him. Very quickly he surprises us by deducing that Steven was the subject of a recent breakup, as a consequence of which he was forced to move out of his girl-friend's apartment. His deductions are done matter-of-factly, and that lisp, along with the haphazard body mannerisms shrouds what are, in reality signs of unusual and perhaps menacing intelligence--at least that is what we are supposed understand.

The next few minutes are taken up by more of Carrey's antics; the murky lighting in Steven's apartment makes them look less humorous than they really are. The interaction between the two is less intimidating when viewed from a movie-goer's perspective, however, one can only imagine Steven's disquietude as he bears with Chip's lewdness and waits patiently for his cable to be hooked. Steven then demurely inquires about an illegal connection. Chip comes down on him fiercely, righteously, only to--much to Steven's relief, burst out laughing. This scene, if handled adeptly, could have set the right tone, but instead it promotes Chip as a goonish prankster, when the script called for a more sadistic impression.

Ben Stiller could have rectified the early mishaps, but he gives Jim a long leash which Carrey employs to squeeze all credibility out of his character. The scene in the Medieval Times restaurant (Janeane Garofalo makes an appearance as a, not surprisingly, bored waitress.) is so absurd, it plays like a last minute addition. Where the movie fails is in its over-reliance on Carrey to pull off the sinister undertones convincingly. Jim tries, but there is too much history behind him--all his goofy, harmless, roles come to mind, and we go through the entire movie convincing ourselves that Jim Carrey, can never, ever, be evil. With the result that Chip's most gruesome actions appear imbecilic-- invoking perplexed titters when we should be shuddering uncontrollably.

Stiller dabbles in plenty of fleeting images--of a young Chip, ignored by a mother who allowed the television to do the lad's upbringing--a simplistic dismissal of Chip's problems. There is an aside in the form of a televised trial--resemblance to real-life characters is purely intentional--that at times is more entertaining than the main topic--as is the soundtrack.

Typically, such movies do not promise outstanding performances from any of the actors. Matthew Broderick did no favors to his career in playing Steven--a role that left him with little to do but traipse along the usual cine-victim spoor. Leslie Mann (Steven's estranged love interest) and George Segal (Mr. Novak) make little impact. Far too much hung on the leads and had John Travolta or Tom Hanks played Chip Douglas (I doubt if either could have duplicated Jim's sanguine energy) the balance that is so important for a comedy to be dark would have been maintained. On some levels, "The Cable Guy" tries to be a lesser "Pulp Fiction," but it ends up taking off as a comedy, turning macabre mid-way, and almost as if to apologize for creating some confusion, resorts to tacking on a fruity conclusion. What surprised me most was Stiller's apparent reluctance to hone some of the rough edges--especially since Jim was paid a ridiculous sum to do the movie. However, there are more than mere rough edges that add to the chaos--the script itself is inconsistent and aims at building the plot around Carrey's comic skills, forgetting that the actor is incapable of the depth that the cable guy required to project. It would be interesting to learn if Ben Stiller's intentions were to create a dark comedy right from the outset, for that is what "The Cable Guy" is billed as. Whether it is one is a moot point.

There were quite a few young ones in the audience that day. Many laughed, although somewhat conservatively, and the parents accompanying them seemed to be weighing the decision to expose the children to this different Jim Carrey. It appears type- casting is not necessarily a bad thing; all of a sudden, the Pet Detective movies--and "Dumb and Dumber" are looking much better.

Reviewed 6/15/1996