The Film
Long before there was Larry the Cable Guy, or even any of those annoying Verizon commercials that poked fun at cable TV installers, there was Ben Stiller's dark comedy The Cable Guy, which starred Jim Carrey as the title character. Arriving on Blu-ray in a 15th anniversary edition, this guy comedy reminds us of two things - one is that the cost of cable has really gone up since the mid-1990s, and two Carrey's reported $20 million paycheck for this film was truly undeserved.
While there are plenty of funny side and background gags, including Stiller as a celebrity who reportedly killed his twin, the main action between Carrey and Matthew Broderick as the poor slack who somehow befriends the socially awkward title character tires quickly. This film suffers for the same reason many Saturday Night Live skits made into to movies also fail - the joke wears thin really fast, and Carrey's attempt to create a unique character (ala his days from In Living Color) doesn't translate to the big screen. The Cable Guy would thus have been better served as a TV character.
The Picture
The years have been cruel to this one, and while it might have had the look of basic analog cable TV back when that meant "high quality" and was actually an improvement for many people over over-the-air broadcast signals, in the day and age of HD, this film just doesn't deliver. There is some graininess throughout and the picture is generally soft, with colors that don't appear as vibrant or as well saturated as more recent releases. The 2.40:1 presentation is clearly meant for the smaller screen in so many ways.
The Sound
The sound too doesn't bring out the best that even current cable TV can offer. The 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack is clean as a whistle, but lacks anything of note in the surround channels. The dialog comes through without issue - despite Carrey's annoying made up lisp - but little in the way of music or effects is offered to make this worth the upgrade to a premium package.
The Extras
The extras are the one area where the Blu-ray has a leg up on the DVD, and certainly on a DVR recording of the film from cable. It features a new commentary with Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow and Jim Carrey; plus deleted and extended scenes. There is also an HBO First Look, a Comedy Central Canned Ham Presents: The Cable Guy featurette, a gag reel, rehearsal footage, and even a video of "Leave me Alone." Serious fans will likely appreciate these bonus features, but even the commentary offers little in the way of new insight on the film.
Final Thoughts
Not exactly Stiller's or Carrey's best work, but this one is worth a peak just for those aforementioned sight gags, and a chance to see various supporting stars - such as Jack Black - in almost scene-stealing bits. Compared to the work that Stiller, Apatow and even Carrey have done this one might have been best left unplugged.
Product Details
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