Cable Guy - Die Nervensäge

Following a failed marriage proposal to his girlfriend, Robin (Leslie Mann), architect Steven Kovacs (Matthew Broderick) moves into an apartment to reluctantly setup his single existence. Dealing with movers and waiting for The Cable Guy, he finally arrives in the form of eccentric Ernie "Chip" Douglas (Jim Carrey). On the advice of his best friend Rick (Jack Black), Steven asks Chip about a deal of slipping him $40 in exchange for full cable access which Chip agrees. Chip initiates friendship with Steven, who reluctantly accepts but as Chip ingrains himself more and more in Steven's life Steven gives him an ultimatum to leave him alone which doesn't go over well with Chip.

Written as a spec script by first (and one time) screenwriter Lou Holtz Jr., the project imitated as a What About Bob? Style "annoying friend" comedy inspired by Holtz seeing a cable guy at his mother's apartment building late at night. The script caused a bidding war which was eventually won by Columbia pictures for $750,000 plus an additional $250,000 if the movie got made. After failed attempts to get the script filmed with the likes of Chris Farley and Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey then came on board receiving an unprecedented $20 million salary for the role. Producer Judd Apatow was then hired and soon Ben Stiller as director marking the film as Stiller's sophomore directorial effort having previously 1994 dramedy Reality Bites. When Carrey, Apatow, and Stiller came aboard they liked the setup of someone tech savvy invading someone's life and opted to add more slapstick and darker tones making the film a satire of the various stalker thrillers of the 90s such as Cape Fear and The hand that Rocks the Cradle. When the movie was released in June of 1996, critical and audience reaction was mixed and the movie opened at Number 2 behind Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible. While some critics such as Gene Siskel appreciated the dark edge, others like Roger Ebert hated the film and even included it on the "worst of" year end lists. The movie is often thought to be a bomb and it really wasn't. While the movie didn't reach the heights of The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, or Batman Forever, it still made $102.8 million against its $47 million budget but depending on the marketing budget that could've definitely skewed the numbers. While the film is still as divisive today as it was back then, it has gone on to accumulate appreciation for its dark edge and off kilter sense of humor as well as its service as a "gateway" for Carrey to tackle more edgy material such as in Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

What makes The Cable Guy work for me is the fact that its filmmaking style is near indistinguishable from how a 90s stalker thriller would be filmed. From the camera angles, the performances, to the various tropes incorporated, the entire cast and crew are treating this material as you would a contemporary stalker thriller of the time which serves as a counterpoint to the sillier and more outrageous antics that happen in the movie. Carrey is delightfully sinister in the role of "The Cable Guy" as he is this character of isolation whose mind has been poisoned by television and loneliness and now gravitates for any kind of human interaction to a ridiculous degree. Matthew Broderick makes a solid straight man to the antics of the movie as he's a very flawed character who like The Cable Guy also has emotional hang-ups such as his emotional neediness regarding his ex-girlfriend Robin. The fact Steven is flawed and not super likable makes it easier for us to laugh at The Cable Guy's antics that befall him whilst still fitting within the framework you'd expect from a thriller of this type. The movie features some truly inspired set pieces such as a sequence set at the restaurant Medieval Times that is quotable as all get out and features some solid work from Janeane Garofalo as the waitress and we also get a great karaoke sequence with Carrey's rendition of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" brilliantly coordinated and crosscut with an unnerving seduction sequence that works as both dark comedy and part of the thriller setup.

The Cable Guy was unfairly maligned by audiences of the time and I'm happy it's gone on to gain some appreciation for the uniquely dark comedy that it is and not for failing to fall in line with the mold people expected of a Carrey film. Carrey would be unaffected by the disappointment of this movie scoring a monster hit the following year with Liar Liar and stretching his dramatic chops with the Peter Weir dramedy The Truman Show. There's a lot to appreciate in The Cable Guy and its undeniably a bold and uncompromising comedy that wasn't afraid to unnerve its audience.