No comedians career boomed so fantastically in the 90's than that of Jim Carrey. The Canadian actor made a big name for himself with comedies such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and Dumb and Dumber, as well as the occasional serious film like The Truman Show as well. While he may not be as prominent as he was back then, his legacy is unmistakable, and many of his roles have become iconic in the years since passed. However, I'm not here to talk about Ace Ventura or Lloyd Christmas today my friends, oh no, today I will be looking at what I feel is Carrey's most underrated role.
In 1996, Carrey starred as the eponymous role in The Cable Guy, a dark comedy produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Ben Stiller, based off a screenplay by Lou Holtz Jr. The film followed a recently single man played by Matthew Broderick, who befriends his strange-yet-friendly cable guy Chip Douglas. However, what begins as a chance friendship soon deteriorates into something much darker, in a film that I feel is a highlight of Carrey's career.
If you look up The Cable Guy on Google, you'll find mixed to average ratings. With 6/10 on IMDb, 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 56% on Metacritic, the film seems like nothing more than a mediocre entry into Carrey's vast filmography. Along with that, the title is nowhere near as iconic as the likes of The Mask or Ace Ventura, and for some reason doesn't garner the same appreciation as them. Well today, I step in, looking to make a case for The Cable Guy.
At first glance, Chip Douglas has all the traits of your usual Jim Carrey character: he's hyper, he's loud, he's a wacky guy overall, and he even has a lisp this time. He meets Broderick's character Steven while fixing his T.V. and the duo form an unlikely, albeit unconventional friendship. They go to a Medieval Times restaurant together, they play basketball together, Chip even buys Steven a new sound system and proceeds to host a karaoke party in his honour. However, it soon becomes clear that Chip isn't everything he claims to be, and things begin to get extremely dark.
Chip Douglas acts as the dark counterpart to Carrey's usual portrayals, a sort of disturbing flip-side to the zany characters he normally takes on. He is obsessive, he is manipulative, and at times he is downright unsettling. The moment that Steven becomes too overwhelmed by his behaviour and severs their friendship, Chip goes from being his best friend to his worst enemy. He begins to niggle his way into his life whenever he can, stalking his girlfriend, befriending his family, and even putting Steven behind bars only to taunt him some time later. Think Fatal Attraction, only with Ace Ventura in the Glenn Close role. All he wants is friendship, but he is willing to go to extreme lengths against anyone who denies him that.
While he is still mostly a comedic character, Carrey does a great job of bringing out Chips darker side, and gives a truly disturbing performance by the end of it all. The final half-hour or so particularly showcases Carrey's ability to play a much more sinister role as he kidnaps Steven's girlfriend Robin (Leslie Mann) and the two enter a vicious game of cat & mouse. He is no longer the wacky protagonist, but is now a disturbing adversary. Amidst all of the villainy however, Carrey also gives the character a certain degree of pathos in the climax, as he emotionally monologues about how he was neglected by his mother and raised by television. 'I learned the facts of life by watching The facts of life!' he laments, as he reflects on his lonely upbringing. This, and an earlier flashback depicting a young Chip, add layers of depth to the character and make him feel much more complex. Underneath it all, he was simply a lonely man who had been denied friendship his whole life, causing him to seek it out in the extreme ways he does in the film. As the credits roll, we can't help but sympathise with Chip Douglas, or whatever his real name was.
Chip Douglas and all his complexities are what put this film above the rest for sure, but that's not to say that there are no other merits to The Cable Guy. First of all, the film boasts two of what I feel are Jim Carrey's most iconic moments. The first is the aforementioned Medieval Times scene, in which Chip treats Steven to a meal at the feudal-themed restaurant, followed by a duel that he takes way too seriously. Dressed in full body armour and quoting Star Trek, Carrey gets a chance to highlight Chip's more intense side, while still maintaining his comic presence. Some time later however, Carrey manages to top that scene with his rendition of Jefferson Airplane's 'Somebody to Love' (or 'Thumbody to love' in this case). Clad in a fringe-sleeved jacket and surrounded by bizarre jeriatrics, Carrey will change the way you listen to Jefferson Airplane forever.
There is also an engaging subplot that's omnipresent throughout the film, involving the televised trial of Sam Sweet, a child actor convicted of murdering his twin brother Stan. Clips of the trial are shown throughout, as well as a fictional TV movie starring Eric Roberts as the twins, and we somehow become invested in this seemingly irrelevant subplot that has nothing to do with the story itself. It's not until the climax when we see that everyone in the city is settling down to watch the verdict of the trial, only for it to be cut short when Chip falls onto the satellite and damages the aerial. Suddenly we find ourselves becoming just as frustrated as the characters themselves, all over a fictional trial. Oh, and the fictional twins? Both are portrayed by director Ben Stiller.
Finally, the film also made some predictions about future technology that strangely came true. These include online shopping, online gaming, and the integration of phones, television, and the internet. These seem like pretty standard statements in the 21st century, but the film came out in 1996, so it's interesting to see how much of Chip Douglas' predictions actually happened. Well, it's not actually that interesting, but it's worth noting.
To give us one final reminder of Chip Douglas and his sinister ways, the film ends with a helicopter paramedic rescuing the disturbed Cable Guy, assuring him that he will be okay before calling him 'buddy'. Douglas then asks the paramedic if he really is his buddy, before giving the camera an unsettling smile, hinting that history is about to repeat itself.
Overall, I believe that The Cable Guy is Jim Carrey's best performance in a comedic film. He takes his usual character traits and puts a much darker spin on them to make for a sinister, yet emotionally complex character. While he does have plenty of wacky moments throughout, ultimately we can't help but feel sorry for Chip Douglas and his lonely life. Part slapstick comedy, part psychological thriller, and small-part courtroom procedural, The Cable Guy marks a high point in Jim Carrey's career that, for the first time, seen him transcend his usual comedic persona to portray a much more layered character.
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