This week’s Disc Dive hands us an 8-hour window to wait around for The Cable Guy.
Title: The Cable Guy
Director: Ben Stiller
Premiered: June 10, 1996 (United States – Hollywood)
Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
Disc Format: DVD
Steven (Matthew Broderick) recently proposed to, and was rejected by, Robin (Leslie Mann). This has led to him moving out and into his own bachelor pad. As Steven’s luck would have it, after waiting around for most of the day, the cable guy shows up for installation right as he’s in the middle of a shower.
When he opens the door, Ernie Douglas, Chip if he’s your friend, (Jim Carrey) is there and ready to get to work. After an elaborate process of finding the sweet spot on the wall for the install, Ernie has Steven set up and good to go. Taking advice from his co-worker, Steven decides it’s worth trying to get access to all the movie channels by offering Ernie a cash bribe. Ernie is appalled that Steven would even ask for illegal cable. But he does agree to make Steven one of his preferred customers, in exchange for Steven’s friendship.
While Steven isn’t really keen on the idea, he figures it’s worth it if it means getting priority service. But it doesn’t take long for Steven to start second-guessing his decision. It seems like the more he and Chip hang out, the more Chip starts randomly showing up in his life, regardless of whether or not he was invited.
What is the true cost of friendship with Chip Douglas?
The Cable Guy released when Jim Carrey was in his comedic prime. He’d already been Ace Ventura – twice, gave us a brilliant performance as The Riddler, and had other box office comedies to his name such as Dumb and Dumber and The Mask, as well as a four-year run on In Living Color. He was already an established name, already able to command $20 million per picture, and people felt they knew what to expect from a Jim Carrey comedy.
Then comes Ben Stiller, with a script penned by Lou Holtz Jr., and we get to see a whole different side of Carrey. Yes, he’s still wildly hilarious. All you have to do is look at the basketball game, the trip to Medieval Times, or even the family game of Password and it’s on full display. He even has throwaway lines that still make me laugh. Like when Steven checks his messages, realizes he has none, and Chip nonchalantly says, “Nobody loves ya”.
But there’s another level to Ernie “Chip” Douglas. One that allowed Carrey to show what he’s capable of with darker humor and more serious subject matter. The way he’s able to tap into the creepy, almost stalker-like, persona necessary to make the character work, forcing a friendship upon Steven and meticulously escalating it to its breaking point, showed us that Carrey isn’t just a one-trick pony. In fact, this role is widely considered the one that led to him later getting The Truman Show.
I could gush about Jim Carrey all day, but the supporting cast deserves their flowers. Broderick, Mann – who is always funny in everything she shows up in, and Jack Black – who was on the verge of breaking out, all fully capable of holding their ground when on-screen with Carrey.
If the clever writing and stellar cast weren’t enough, The Cable Guy also has an incredible soundtrack that oozes mid-90s alt rock energy. We get songs from Filter, Primitive Radio Gods, Silverchair, Cypress Hill, Porno for Pyros, and Jim Carrey even does vocals on a few comedic vocal tracks.
Jim Carrey has said that this is one of his favorite movies and I wholeheartedly agree with him.
This concludes our broadcast day. [Click]