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When first released, Cable Guy was such an unusual departure for Jim Carrey and his usual slapstick, manic, goofy comedies that people just didn't understand it or like it. When word of Carrey's enormous $20 million paycheck for this film spread, hopes were high that Cable Guy would be smothered in Carrey's slice of hilarious dementia to the extreme.

Carrey certainly brought an air of craziness to Chip Douglas, a lonely, TV-addicted, and creepy cable installer who befriends the unwilling Matthew Broderick (here, looking just nervous and bewildered for the entire film). But something was missing from this Carrey vehicle from the others: he was not all fun and games. In fact, he was downright funny weird, not funny haha.

So here lies one of the major problems people have with this film: it veers from dark comedy into darkness, period. Carrey isn't making an ass of himself in every scene. No. Instead, Carrey's Chip Douglas is an obsessive, extreme, two-faced sociopath. The result? What would be Jim Carrey's best performance to date, surpassed only by his Truman Burbank in The Truman Show.

Sure, it's got a story that's been done to death: normal guy meets psycho and is stalked. But oh, what fun it is to see Jim drag Matthew Broderick into such uncomfortable situations as playing Porno Password with his parents (Carrey whispering "Nipple" into Broderick's ear is absolute brilliance).

Cable Guy is definitely not for fans who want to see Jim Carrey do what created his career; that is, silly, goofy, and flailing comedy. However, avid fans of black comedies will love seeing Carrey's first step in his evolution as a gifted, serious, and undeniably interesting actor.

8 out of 10.

The Cable Guy has now all but been forgotten by the movie world. It was released when Jim Carrey was on his way to being the new A list comedian, and thus, was considered only a slightly funny version of 'Ace Venture'. or The Mask' Or whatever. Personally, I don't consider The Cable Guy a comedy at all. Sure, there are some side splitting moments - Carrey is hilarious alongside Matthew Broderick's by the numbers 'average Joe', but id suggest that anyone who was not taken in by this film to look at it a little differently...

This is a horror film. I swear!

For me, Chip Douglas does not come across to me as a harmless lisping clingy chump - HELL NO! The guy is a maniac. An obsessive, intelligent, controlling, stalking "Fatal Attraction" styled nutter!

Watch it again!

For me, this is Jim Carrey's career launching performance. He has a lisp right? after a while, you don't really notice it do you? Right. This is an incredibly difficult task for an actor - maintaining a speech impediment for an entire film, keeping it level, and not exaggerating it, its really something to take a look at. Carrey's character is sick, and very very creepy. With Broderick et al giving relatively standard performances, Carrey's performance is a stand out, and Ben Stiller should be proud of this film and what it lead to in terms of Jim Carrey's career.

Trust me, if you didn't like this, take another look, and prepare to be freaked out by a very not funny, very creepy Carrey performance...

8/10

This is the first comment I've ever written, so I thought I'd right it about my favorite movie. This is one of the only two 10's I've ever given, and not just because it's underrated, which it is. This is one of the most hilarious movies I've ever seen, and easily the best dark comedy ever conceived. Ben Stiller is a great director, Jim Carrey is amazing, and Broderick isn't as annoying as everyone says he is. The only possible reason this movie's rating is so low is that many people watched this thinking they were watching another dumb and silly Jim Carrey comedy. This movie is actually very smart. So, if you watch this movie knowing that it is not the usual Jim Carrey fare, you will probably love this movie as much as I did.

Matthew Broderick asked his girl to marry him and she asked him to move out. The eccentric guy who shows up to install cable in his new pad arrives just at the right time to become his friend. Only The Cable Guy (Jim Carrey) wants to be a little closer than Broderick is comfortable with...

The Cable Guy is a brave and daring tragi-comedy, a rare sort of movie where you're laughing one minute and scared the next.

I'm not sure if we'll ever get another chance to see Jim Carrey go this far out on a limb: director Ben Stiller has seemingly given him total carte blanche, resulting in a seemingly completely over-the-top characterisation, yet not so over the top that we can't get involved in the plot and take what his character does as really happening.

Notice the way that the cable guy often mimics moments from his favourite movies and works them into his controlling of the plot of this movie - or how he starts humming movie-music along to certain scenes, while the actual music of the movie mirrors the music the cable guy is creating. This will clue you into the other subtle elements which add towards this movie's satire of the effect TV has had on the modern psyche.

Its worth the price of rental alone to see Carrey's rendition of "Don't You Want Somebody to Love" in the famous karaoke scene.

After repeated viewings since its initial release, its one of the most memorable Carrey comedies, and one of the most memorable flicks of the 90's. 4/5.

This review is not coming from someone whose top ten films consist primarily of Farrelly Bros. films, nor do I have a particular liking for anyone involved in the film.

First of all, hats off to Jim Carrey. I read under the trivia section that his role wasn't originally intended for him, but be honest; can you see anyone else playing the cable guy? He was brilliant. He takes the film from what would have been a run-of-the-mill comedy, to levels of greatness, and anyone that thinks I'm being too kind either doesn't like Carrey (it was the film that made me do a complete turn around), or needs to see the film again.

The overall tone of the film is a bit of a mix, it gets darker as the story goes along, but the jokes never mollify. I mean, it's a stalker story with clever film and television references... It's really hard to pin down the identity of this film.

This ranks as Stiller's best directorial performance to date. Reality Bites and Zoolander are good, but not great. This film expresses a lot more of his prowess. I see him as a very capable film maker, he is just yet to make his mark with something more widely appreciated.

The Cable Guy is by no means a classic film, and admittedly, you wont see it on any AFI lists anytime soon, but there is no denying the quality effort that was put into this film by all of it's contributors. And there are many of them -- check out all of those cameos! Chip Douglas' (Carrey) contrived relationship with his customer Steven (Broderick) ranks as one of the most memorable in recent history. It has set a precedent in black comedies that has scarcely been touched since.

I would have seen this film at least 30 times by now and it still seems fresh, and this has lead me to believe that the film probably needs to be viewed more than once for it to completely appreciated. I only wish that there were more people out there that 'get' this gem.

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