The Cable Guy (1996) | Movie Review

[00:00:06]Hey there. Welcome back to another video. This time around it is my review of the 1996 dark comedy film The Cable Guy.

[00:00:15]Now, before I get around to sharing more of my thoughts on The Cable Guy, I would like to give a special shout out to uh Andrew for requesting this review. And if there is another uh film, TV show, or topic that you would like to see me discuss in the future, feel free to donate to either my PayPal, my Patreon, or my Cash App. Links to all three are going to be in the video description down below, and I will try to get your requests as soon as I possibly can. Now, The Cable Guy is directed by Ben Stiller, and this was his followup to his directorial debut, which is Reality Bites. And I think his direction in that film was fine, but his direction in this movie is something genuinely special. I thought his direction here was really impressive. I thought he did a tremendous job with the technical aspects of the film. He really showcased some mysterious talent behind the camera with this movie. There's a lot of really uh wild out there unique camera work in this fisheye lens uh shots uh a multitude of uh you know Dutch angles but used in the right way tracking shots pans zooms closeups.

[00:01:35]It's a very uh uh wacky and uh wildl lookinging movie.

[00:01:47]But it's a big part of why the film has honestly a lot of the staying power that it does despite its flaws is because of elements like Ben Stiller's direction. I thought he did a really great job directing this movie. It honestly looks like it's framed from the perspective of uh Chip uh Douglas himself. Uh and it's coming straight from uh his uh demented uh brain. And I think it's a a really great example of how a director can really create a certain visual style that on its own creates a particular tone uh and elevates the film uh beyond just the aesthetic value. Uh there are some great moments of aesthetics as well when it comes to the direction of the cable guy, but I honestly feel just the way that he matches the manic energy of Jim Car's character Chip and just the way that he handles this absurd anane crazy story and makes it come to life in an equally anane and crazy way visually is just something that really is a lot of fun to watch just to see uh how the visuals unfold and how he handles the film's visual style from um one scene to the next.

[00:03:31]One of the most technically impressive scenes to me is actually the nightmare sequence uh where Matthew Brick's character has a nightmare involving Jim Car's cable guy and it's got like black lighting and all these different types of camera angles and and um camera shots and it's really a cool looking uh uh sequence and it showcases is that Ben Stiller is more than just a a funny guy and he's more than just an actor in in in comedy. He's actually a very capable, very strong director. And I do think that he showcases that uh in a multitude of scenes in in The Cable Guy. Not just the nightmare scene, not just the stylized scenes, even in some of the scenes that don't feature as much uh um wild and um Gonzo uh concepts like the the scene with the uh dirty game of Password uh or the sequences involving the giant satellite dish that uh Chip likes to uh visit now and then.

[00:04:52]I I really felt that a big part of uh this film's um charm it really comes down to uh Ben Stiller's direction and his direction is also a big part of the success that this film does have. Now the film is written by Lou Holtz Jr. And I think for the most part this is a good script, but I think it could be a great screenplay and it just doesn't quite get to that point because it's too uneven tonally and it doesn't seem to fully embrace the dark nature of the concept. It wants to go to a darker place and you can tell that it really has a desire to do so, but it never really commits to that. So, it winds up being in this wishywashy in between purgatory, so to speak, where it's one part dark comedy and then another part lightigh-hearted, silly Jim Carrey uh romp. And I don't think that each portion of uh this script is as effective as it should be as a result. But I do think it starts out really strong. uh definitely on the proper wavelength with the uh lead in Stephven Kovac and what leads to the cable guy coming into his life.

[00:06:39]You automatically feel for him because he is in a position at the start of the story where he split off with his girlfriend Robin because he proposed to her and she didn't take it well and didn't want to say yes and it actually led to the two of them splitting up which is something that actually can happen and has happened quite often in relationships. And so right off the bat, you feel for him because you're like, dude, like all he wanted was just for her to say yes. And it didn't seem like he said it in a way or did the proposal in a way that was uh uh inappropriate or anything. She just didn't want to marry him. And so that understandably he's down in the dumps.

[00:07:31]And so he tries to, you know, take his mind off things by watching some TV. and the TV is broken. The cable's not working. So, he calls the cable guy.

[00:07:42]The cable guy takes forever to get there. He takes so long that when the cable guy does show up, Steven is in the shower. And so, the cable guy is knocking on the door and he's being loud and obnoxious about it. Cable guy, cable guy. And and then eventually Stephen does manage to finish the his shower quick enough to get to the door and and let the cable guy in before he walks off and doesn't fix his cable. And the first introduction to Chip Douglas, the cable guy, is an absolute riot. This guy is a total loon, but there's still something about him that is kind of charming. And there there's also this gregarious nature to him that kind of makes him a little fun to be around, but still very obnoxious.

[00:08:49]And what I mean by riot is I I just find the whole scene when Chip is treating the installation process for the cable when he's looking for the right spot as if he's looking for a G-spot on a on a on a girl to be absolutely laugh out loud hilarious. It is just so unexpected. It's so bold and and Jim Carrey, he just sells it so well. He even does like the finger trick. Like he like he finds Oh, there's the spot.

[00:09:31]It just it kills me. It's really funny.

[00:09:35]And the hilarity continues because Chip winds up sending Stephen away because he thinks he's going to need more time. And Stephen just goes and does something. And then when he comes back to his apartment, Chip has finished uh you know the cable installation, but he's rearranged the furniture. He's done all this crazy stuff in order to get the perfect picture.

[00:10:05]And Steven heard from his friend Rick, who's played by an early uh uh young uh Jack uh Black. Um and early probably isn't the best word for it, but it's an early performance by Jack Black as Rick. And Rick told him that, hey, if you kick the cable guy, you know, 50 bucks, he can set you up with uh some uh free movie channels or some of the dirty channels.

[00:10:36]And Stephen, he sheepishly asks for this or he does the whole thing. I was like, "Well, I heard from a friend that you could get movie channels and uh extra stuff if you pay extra for it."

[00:11:00]And Chiff's reaction to that is hilarious.

[00:11:06]He's like, it's like he's shocked and appalled at first. It's like, "What?

[00:11:12]What do you mean illegal cable?

[00:11:19]And Stephen is like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no." He's trying. And then I love how Chip turns it around. He's like, "I'm just joshing you. Yeah, I'll hook you up."

[00:11:33]And honestly, the interaction between Chip and Stephen at the start of the of the story is not full of any real animosity. It's not really something that makes you think that there's a ton of red flags with Chip other than he's just a little too overbearing in terms of his personality.

[00:11:54]He even does Steven a solid. He doesn't even take the 50 bucks. He hooks him up for free.

[00:12:03]But there is an there is a catch because there always is. But his catch is just, hey, you know, I just want to hang out, you know, sometime.

[00:12:12]I was like, "Okay, fine." Because other than, you know, him being a little too uh overbearing and and maybe having a little too much of an over-the-top personality and a pronounced lisp, it doesn't really sound like this guy is, you know, somebody who, you know, is going to, you know, beat you up or leave you for dead or anything. You know, might be a little annoying to deal with for one night, but what? Hey, you know, you get free cable.

[00:12:40]So, cuz he he actually doesn't even charge him for the other channels. He just hooks him up for everything for free. And their first uh uh hangout is he takes um Steven to the satellite dish. And they actually have a a a nice conversation where they talk about uh their lives and and Chip talks about how he was essentially raised by the television and just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Chip and his unhealthy attachment to Steven because he's even going as far to show up at Steven's uh pickup basketball games at least to another hilarious scene where one of the the players gets hurt and so Chip's there and so he replaces the guy and before he even starts playing the game he's like oh but I got I got to warm up real quick and he just does this ridiculous run back and forth on the court to uh loosen up his hammies and it's so funny but when the game starts, he's he has no coordination, he's just not he's terrible. He gets his ankles broken, but then he gets asked to play tougher defense. And then he's like, "Oh, prison rules. Okay." And so he's just like aggressively deeing up guys. He's like doing a hard screen, knocking some guy uh on his uh ass. He then decides once he gets the rock, he decides to jump on Jack Black's back and dunk the ball. He dunks it so hard that he shatters the backboard.

[00:14:35]He's And this is like one of the first moments where you see like how genuinely crazy this guy is. Now you're like, "Okay, I see the red flags now. This guy is nuts."

[00:14:48]And I just love that basketball scene.

[00:14:50]And I love everything about it. Just the writing of it, the setup, uh even the song in the background. Such a great song choice. Hey man, nice shot by Filter. Like that is such a a a completely random out ofthe- blue song choice, but it somehow works brilliantly in the scene. So after the uh basketball game, Stephen, he's still for whatever reason allowing Chip to be a part of his life. He's taking advantage of advice that Chip is giving him when it comes to repairing his uh relationship with Robin.

[00:15:35]um involving a showing of Sleepless in Seattle on cable on a specific night.

[00:15:43]Chip uh tells uh Steven that hey, you watch Sleepless in Seattle together uh cuz chicks dig that movie. You tell her uh how great you're doing and she'll be back in your arms in no time.

[00:16:00]And Stephen is not really doing a lot for Chip when it comes to Chip providing this advice or Chip doing these things to help him out. Chip is even trying to call him one night trying to get a hold of him, see how he's doing. And he's obsessive about it because, you know, Chip is not all there. But it seems to come from a good place. And he's just calling way too many times, leaving all these messages, which further frustrates and and annoys Stephen.

[00:16:39]And it causes Steven to basically ignore Chip. And Chip retaliates by going into the fuse box and shutting off uh the power to his TV on the night that he's got uh Robin over where they're going to watch Sleepless in Seattle.

[00:17:00]He's letting Steven know the kind a little bit of a a taste of the kind of things that he's capable of.

[00:17:07]If you push him, if you get on his bad side, you realize that he had this like fake frayed cable in his hand just to manipulate Stephen and also to get Steven to agree to to um hang out with him again. He's like, "Oh, I'll turn the cable back on, but only if you give me what I want."

[00:17:33]and so gets the cable back on, turns the fuse box back on, and that's what leads to uh another really hilarious funny scene at the Medieval Times restaurant.

[00:17:46]Well, I would say somewhat hilarious.

[00:17:49]There are some moments where it's really funny, but then there's some other moments where some of the humor just I don't know, was just really dumb and didn't really work for me. But there's some really funny bits in it. But it did kind of expose the flaws of the script and a lot of the tonal issues because tonally that scene definitely sticks out compar in comparison to some of the other scenes before it and definitely later on in the in the script and in the story. So, after the medieval times scene, it seems like, okay, Chip and uh uh um Stephen, you know, they they patched things up cuz somehow this crazy wild night of medieval times actually strengthen their relationship or their friendship.

[00:18:39]And Chip decides to give back by giving uh uh Steven the electronics, whole new home entertainment system.

[00:18:51]Steven is understandably like, "No, return that. I don't know where that came from." But Chip decides he's going to have a party, a karaoke party with all the equipment before it gets sent away. And it's going to be at uh uh Steven's apartment. And Stephen go uh heads to the party. Chip's there. Got all these different guests that are people who got cable from Chip, including uh police officer.

[00:19:22]And that's when you get the scene where Chip sings Somebody to Love. And it's really funny. He's even singing the lyrics wrong at one point.

[00:19:32]And at the party there's this girl, this hot girl who's like standing in the corner and Steven comes on to her and they hit it off and they wind up sleeping together.

[00:19:44]And this is after the whole Sleepless and Seattle thing. The plan didn't work out because uh Robin immediately or very soon after that night decided to go on another date with another guy.

[00:20:00]And that also leads to another really funny scene with Chip where he tracks down uh well actually that that happens after uh because you don't know exactly who she went out on a date with because Chip decides to help Stephen get Robin back because of what happens uh at the party. because the next morning seemed like things are all good. Uh Steven, you know, maybe he's thinking about starting a relationship with this other woman. Uh but Chip then reveals that the woman's a hooker that he paid to be there. And understandably, Stephen is like, "What?

[00:20:54]Really?" And Chip reveals like, oh, you know, like what? You think you're you're gonna get a woman like that without paying for her? You know, so so like Chip is trying to essentially make Stephen in a way kind of like him or or assuming that Steven is like him in terms of not having that many friends, not having any luck with women. Like he's just making these bold assumptions.

[00:21:23]And Ste and and Steven just doesn't really understandably like that. And this is just one of many red flags that are popping up. And the script does a really good job with the red flags and how they're uh revealed throughout the screenplay. Chip decides to try to help Stephen. And he and specifically helps Stephen get Robin back because he does view Steven as a friend and he wants to do him a solid.

[00:21:54]And his idea of doing a solid is stalking Robin and finding out who she's dating and then beating up her date in the bathroom. And another really unhinged, crazy, but honestly, genuinely funny scene. But that's not enough for Chip.

[00:22:13]He wants to make it a, you know, he wants to seal the deal. So then he sets up uh some cable for Robin. Makes Robin think that it was set up by Stephen, that Steven paid for it as a favor to her. Uh way, you know, as a gift. She calls up Stephen later at his job, tells him that she appreciates the free cable.

[00:22:36]They get back together, but Stephen finds this out. He finds out that it was Chip who was behind all of this, and he decides to break things off with Chip at that moment.

[00:22:51]Chip doesn't take kindly to that, completely uh uh loses his mind, and then starts targeting Steven. He has Steven arrested uh for uh the stolen electronics uh that he was initially gifted uh by uh Chip.

[00:23:13]He winds up losing his job because Chip installed a camera, a hidden camera in his house when he installed the cable to record private conversations between him and Robin when he's roasting his boss.

[00:23:28]So then he Chip then leaks that footage onto the work computers. So that gets uh uh uh Steven fired.

[00:23:40]He also causes his friends and his family or at least his family and Robin to think that Steven is uh starting to lose it mentally uh because he is acting like he's just a nice kind friend who's trying to do the best for Stephen.

[00:24:04]And it all culminates in this dinner party scene that actually is really crass and offensive and essentially is like dirty uh sex talk because it's a dirty password.

[00:24:22]But there's an underlying manipulative connotation behind it that is honestly really well done and well written. And it shows how genuinely uh uh smart and clever Chip is. Yeah, he's crazy, but he's not crazy in a way where he doesn't know what he's doing. And he doesn't have a plan. And he even the the paid hooker was a part of his whole contingency plan because he uses that photo to make things difficult between Robin and Stephen. and because he took a photo of of Steven with the hooker that night at the at the karaoke party and then at the game of Dirty Password.

[00:25:11]Now Stephen is is is disgraced. He's out of a job. His parents are thinking that he's psycho.

[00:25:20]Robin doesn't want anything to do with him. He's having uh disturbing nightmares about the cable guy. and he gets a call from Chip one night that is really disturbing. Chip is basically insinuating that he's going to he's going to grab he's going to kidnap Robin. And so that uh spurs Steven into action. He gets out of his uh doldrums and his depression and decides to try to save Robin. He he figures out where Chip is going to be next. He also figures out the truth about Chip from his friend Rick who did some research that Chip is not actually a cable guy. He was fired months ago and he's just installing illegal cable and he was fired because he was a stalker and he was uh crazy and he's using all these different aliases that are just names of different people from different television shows.

[00:26:28]And speaking of television shows, there's also an underlying uh social commentary, satirical uh angle on this screenplay with TV and the media with this uh murder trial about the Sweet Brothers that's honestly really funny.

[00:26:47]Uh and some really clever satire.

[00:26:50]There was even like a bit with Eric Roberts where he plays the two twins and a TV version of the trial.

[00:26:58]Uh, and it's it's biting satire about the the media and television and its effect on society, but it's very surface level stuff and when it shows up, it's well done. It's well written, but there's not enough for of it to really be anything more than just a little bit of static in the background. But then you have this moment where Chip has a mental breakdown and you see a more tragic side to his character and it does seem a little uh out of place in some capacity.

[00:27:35]and he then tries to commit suicide and he's unsuccessful cuz somehow he survives his fall. But he justifies it by destroying the television. You know, shutting off the signal, the very thing that caused him to become this lonely, depressed, psychotic figure. If this was in a more focused screenplay, then that would be effective, but it's not. So, it just kind of feels it's another element of the script that kind of feels a little out of place at this point. And then I don't really like how it doesn't commit to it fully, like he somehow survives the fall. And then you have like a sequel bait ending where he finds another friend to annoy and harass in the future in the helicopter pilot who's taking him to the hospital. And yeah, you do have Robin and Steven. They're back together. So you do have a semblance of a happy ending and you have the social commentary stuff where people start reading books again instead of watching the TV and watching brain rot content.

[00:28:45]But it doesn't really have as much impact as it as I think it honestly could have or should. Honestly, I think the screenplay should have been darker than it is. I think it should have gone fullon psychological horror uh near the end. uh raised the stakes more and had a much more satisfying climax because the climax, the finale as it is, the showdown at the satellite dish, it's it's honestly kind of it's fairly underwhelming. The cast though, I think for the most part is great.

[00:29:21]Jim Carrey is the cable guy. Chip Douglas, he's obnoxious. He's irritating. He's got a lisp, but he still manages to make it fun to watch. It's still a really fun performance to watch despite all these irritating aspects of his character because he's just so good at physical comedy. His comic timing is on another level. And he adds all these other nuances to the character to Chip that just make it a very compelling performance that you're very drawn to.

[00:29:56]And I think it's a very mesmerizing role. I think it's honestly easily one of his best performances, especially when he's going full-on psycho mode. It really shows that Jim could have pulled off a film where he was just a a genuine psychotic cable guy who was maybe like a serial killer or something like that could have genuinely worked because he showed that range in this film. Matthew Brick as Stephen. He's he's so so I don't think he's anything that special, but it's a it's an okay performance. He's a decent enough straight man to Jim Car's uh wild over-the-top cable guy.

[00:30:40]And Brick does have enough natural charisma, so to speak, to kind of make it somewhat work. But there's also some moments where he's not giving his all and he's just kind of going through the motions a little bit in terms of his line delivery. And there's also some moments where I think his character is supposed to be more sympathetic, but he comes across as more of like a dick than anything. And I think a different actor like maybe like a Michael J. talks or something or or somebody along those lines could have brought more to the role and and could have done something to make this character a lot more memorable. It's kind of a forgettable character even though he's the lead of the movie. Uh Leslie Man, uh she's not too bad herself as Robin Harris. It's kind of a limited role, but she does what she can with it. Uh Jack Black is a lot of fun as Rick. I wish he was in it more. Uh wish he had a larger role to be honest because whenever he was on screen it was it was actually a good performance. Uh George Seagal Diane Baker played the Kovac. They were fun.

[00:31:52]Uh Ben Stiller was hilarious as the twin brothers Sam and Stanu. Uh looked like an outtake from the Ben Stiller show in the best kind of way because I love that show. Uh, Eric Roberts was uh, fun.

[00:32:09]Stole the one scene it was in as himself in the television version of the Sam and Stanuite murders. Uh, Jine Janine GOP was great with her typical sardonic wit and just her great dead pan as the waitress. The other cast member that stood out the most to me was Owen Wilson as uh the douchebag uh who Robin was dating who got beat up by um Jim Carrey in the bathroom. Like he really showed some star power and potential here and you could definitely get why he would get more screen time and more roles later on in his career after this. The cinematography by Robert Brinkman. I'm not going to say that it's uh amazing or all inspiring, but it's good. I do think he did a good job shooting the film. It definitely matched whatever vision that Ben had for it. And the editing by Stephen Weisberg, I thought actually was for the most part quite wonderful. I thought he did a really excellent job editing this movie.

[00:33:21]matched Jim Car's manic psycho uh uh tone and performance that he brought to the role of the cable guy very well and just the the unique overall uh vibe and and feel of the film too. And a big part of why the film works is due to the visuals. It's due to the direction, the cinematography and the editing all combined.

[00:33:50]And I like the music by John Oman. I felt he composed a score that definitely uh fit the film well, fit its tone, fit what it was trying to do in terms of its mix of u dark comedy and and ziness.

[00:34:11]But the licensed songs for the film were definitely the things that were music related that stood out the most to me.

[00:34:19]Um Jim Car's cover of uh Somebody to Love by Darby Slick. Uh the song by Filter, Hey Man, Nice Shot.

[00:34:33]The um the song uh uh Get Out of My Head by Cracker.

[00:34:41]And in particular, Leave Me Alone by Jerry Cantrell from Allison Chains. like that song in particular was really great and I loved it. It was actually used in the end credits if I remember correctly and it just was a very fitting song for this movie. So yeah, overall I like the film. I I think The Cable Guy is a fun movie. It's a fun watch, but it's flawed. I do think its wiring is at times a little substandard, maybe a little too loose. it it doesn't really get the strongest signal and I think as a result you don't get as clear of a picture uh as you really should with this film. I think it should have been just a straightforward super dark comedy, a twisted dark comedy all the way from beginning to end instead of this hybrid that it ultimately wound up being of uh twisted dark comedy and a silly romcom to be perfectly honest. Uh but anyway, thanks for watching uh my thoughts on The Cable Guy and until next time, I'll see you later. See you.

[00:36:08]Heat.