Directed by:
Ben StillerScreenplay:
Lou Holtz Jr.Cinematography:
Robert BrinkmannComposer:
John OttmanCast:
Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black, George Segal, Diane Baker, Ben Stiller, Eric Roberts, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, Kyle Gass, David Cross (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A lonely and disturbed cable guy raised on television just wants a new friend, but his target, a designer, rejects him, with bad consequences. (official distributor synopsis)
Reviews (5)
I wasn’t extremely entertained, but I can't deny this film a certain degree of originality and an attempt to convey something. It's certainly not stupid and Ben Stiller shows that he could be an original director.
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Jim Carrey, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson directed by Ben Stiller. Who would have expected it to be such an unsuccessful comedy. If it weren't for one particular scene, there would be no laughs. Still, the movie has some potential. Surprisingly, its weakest link is Jim Carrey, who is, perhaps for the first time (and hopefully the last) on camera, unconvincing and desperately unfunny. Whether it is the fault of the screenplay pushing him into positions that do not suit him or something else doesn’t matter in the end, because it changes nothing about the boring final impression.
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Several self-serving inserts (like a medieval restaurant duel), young Jack Black once again intersecting with Emile Hirsch’s likeness, and an attempt at an educational finale on the theme of pathological addiction. Among the many references to films and series, two were the most notable. Eastwood’s "obsessive" rendition of "Misty" and Ren & Stimpy, because the eccentric antics of the rubber Canadian are not far from this kind of animation. When TV-raised Chip stumbles over his words here, he might as well do it literally.
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The Cable Guy was one of Carrey's flops. Today, thankfully, it's a classic lesson from 90s media. So many references to the trends of the time can easily serve as an open textbook. Just add articles from the early days of HBO here and the introduction of Cable Plus and that’s that.
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“I forgive you. I hope my neurologist will forgive you too." Jim Carrey is extremely annoying in this role, horrendous, unbearable... But you know what? He was supposed to be like that. I bet Ben Stiller and Co. wanted to bring one of the most awful characters in film history onto the screen and they wanted Matthew Broderick to experience hellish terror and the viewer to suffer with him. And that's exactly what they did. It is simply a very black comedy, and the point with the verdict of the expected trial is outright fatal.
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