Like many people, I have seen most every Jim Carey film.  This includes some of his early work, like Once Bitten (1985).  I saw it when I was roughly twelve or so, and I probably should not have been seeing it.  I also did not realize who I was looking at when I saw it.  That is because this was before Jim Carey was, well, Jim Carey.  At any rate, my scrolling through Netflix brought me one that had slipped through the viewing cracks, that being The Cable Guy (1996).  I do not remember how I missed this one, and any explanation I could give would be mere speculation.  I did know a bit about it through cultural osmosis.  Now the circle is complete and here is my review.

Though Jim Carey is the title character in The Cable Guy, the story actually focuses on Steven M. Kovacs (Matthew Broderick).  He is recently separated from his girlfriend, Robin Harris (Leslie Mann), and is moving into a new apartment.  He is sitting in his humble abode doing what many of us have done: waiting for a service technician.  The window for arrival has passed and the cable guy has not arrived.  While standing by, he talks to his friend Rick (Jack Black), who gives Steven a tip for getting free television services.  All he needs to do is give the cable guy a little extra money and Steven will have free access to all the premium movie channels.  The person who finally comes is somebody going by Ernie “Chip” Douglas (Jim Carey), and he is off-putting.  Being the nice guy that he is, Steven does his best to work around the awkwardness.  This task is made less easy due to the information Chip is privy to about Steven despite them only meeting for the first time.  For instance, Chip knows that Steven had recently been kicked out of Robin’s place, and Steven fills in the rest about how this had come on the heels of him having proposed to her.  Chip offers some relationship advice and is on his way out the door when he drops a hint about the possibility of them hanging out sometime.  Steven takes it in a general way, but it quickly becomes clear that Chip is serious.  Hence, the next day Chip takes Steven to the satellite dish from which the signal for all the television networks that are beamed to that area are received.  Despite the odd location, Steven is impressed with Chip’s knowledge.  The next day, without being invited, Chip shows up at a pick-up basketball game that Rick and Steven are playing in, and once more lets his strange side come out.  Steven decides that he needs to distance himself from Chip, but the several phone messages from Chip on Steven’s answering machine makes Steven feel a little guilty.  Thus, Steven accepts an invitation to Medieval Times.  Chip, though, has arranged a surprise for Steven: they are going to compete against one another on the jousting grounds.  It is meant to be good-natured, but there is a crazy look in Chip’s eye as they face off against one another.  When they return to Steven’s place, he finds that Chip has installed an expensive entertainment system, including a karaoke machine.  This means that Chip had broken into Steven’s apartment to put everything in its place.  Steven tells Chip that he cannot accept it.  Chip grudgingly says he will have it removed, but it will take a couple of days to arrange it.  In the meantime, Chip decides that Steven needs to loosen up a little and invites a bunch of his special clients for a party.  During the festivities, Chip points Steven in the direction of a young lady (the only young lady present), who later takes Steven into his bedroom.  Chip bursts in at one point and snaps a photograph of Steven in a compromising position.  The next morning, with Chip wearing one of Steven’s hoodies and making breakfast, Steven casually mentions that the woman was a prostitute.  This is the last straw for Steven, and he angrily throws Chip out of his apartment.  Chip perceives this as something to be fixed in his friendship with Steven.  Chip’s first move to repair it is to go to Robin’s place and give her free cable, telling her that it is from Steven.  Steven had been trying to get back together with Robin for some time, and when she thanks him for this apparent present from him, it signals to him that she is ready to reignite their relationship.  Yet, when Steven comes home from work later to find Chip waiting there for him, Steven tells Chip that he does not want to be friends.  To put it mildly, Chip does not take this well.  His first move is to report the entertainment system he installed in Steven’s living room as stolen, leading to Steven’s arrest.  Next, Chip invites himself over to Steven’s parent’s house for a family dinner, which Steven finds out about only when he gets there with Robin.  Chip ingratiates himself to the Kovacs, and then forces them to play a pornographic version of the game Password.  The night ends with Steven punching Chip in the face.  The final act sees Steven fired from his job when Chip puts disparaging things Steven says about his boss on every computer.  Steven turns to Rick, who uncovers a series of aliases used by Chip, all relating to classic television shows.  Thus, when Chip calls Steven to threaten Robin, Steven notifies the police.  Steven finds Chip with Robin at the satellite dish where they once hung out.  Despite the pain caused to Steven by Chip, Steven attempts to save Chip from killing himself when he jumps off the tower.  Eventually, though, Chip slips away and lands on the receiver.  It knocks out the signal to the entire area, but he survives.  Robin and Steven look on as Chip is carried away.  The final shot is of Chip potentially making a new friend of one of the emergency medical technicians (EMT) on the helicopter.

The Cable Guy is billed as a dark comedy, and this is mostly accurate.  It is dealing with serious issues like stalking and child abandonment.  This last one applies to Chip, who we see in a flashback is basically raised by the “babysitter.”  This means the television.  What makes it a comedy, supposedly, is the way Carey plays the character.  He has a lisp, and does a number 1990s Jim Carey things.  I suppose this was funny then, but I did laugh while watching it now.  Instead, my Faith had me empathizing with Steven.  It is not so much his frustrations or the stress he endures.  It is understandable to get upset when somebody puts you through what Chip does to Steven.  Instead, what I appreciated is the compassion Steven shows Chip at the end.  Given everything that transpired between the two, it is a truly Christ-like act, and something Jesus asks of all of us to imitate.  It is especially necessary for somebody like Chip.  It is evident that he is a wounded soul, and he desires to be loved.  This is something that God gives to all of us, and He intends us to use it more like Steven does at the end.  This does not mean that we need to indulge the antics of somebody like Chip, or even to react passively to them.  Because this is a comedy, the interactions are meant to be over-the-top for effect.  Nonetheless, there is a normal way to handle these situations.  Steven even says it when he tells Chip that we all need help.  God is the ultimate source of that help.

I watched The Cable Guy with a different mindset than I think most people would do so.  If you have been keeping up with my reviews on The Legionnaire, especially of comedies, you might think that I have no sense of humor.  That is not the case, I assure you.  What it means for today’s movie is that I give it a mixed recommendation.  I would not watch it for laughs, but rather for what it says about how to be good to a person in need.