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Cable Guy, The
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Why should I help you...I gave you free cable."
-Jim Carrey's character in "The Cable Guy".
Many were angered by the results of Jim Carrey's first 20 million dollar paycheck and still, many bring up the film as being Carrey's one failure. Although it didn't quite make the budget back, I think that much of the movie is brilliant satire and that this is the performance from the actor that has the strongest edge to it.
Directed by Ben Stiller, who acted in films like "There's Something About Mary", "The Cable Guy" stars Carrey as Chip Douglas, a rather intense cable repairman who is called in one day to set up the cable in the apartment of Steven Kovacs(Matt Broderick). While it occurs to Steven that his new friend is rather odd, as the film goes on what seemed like the beginings of a friendship becomes the need for a restraining order as Chip places himself into the middle of Steven's life, even telling him how to get back with his girlfriend.
The movie feels rather empty between sequences that are near classic, and some of the funniest bits I've seen from Carrey. Early on in the movie, Chip takes a friendly game of basketball too seriously( he says, "I guess we're playing prison rules now, huh?"). There are other scenes such as a battle at a "Midevil Times" restaurant that parodies a "Star Trek" episode and Chip doing a karaoke jam to "Somebody To Love". As scary as Carrey's character becomes, there are still enough humorous moments and remarks from the character to keep watching. There's also an intensity to whatever role Carrey plays that is at times remarkable. Broderick, on the other hand, plays the character as a little too annoyed and a little boring in the role, looking as if he's feeling overshadowed by Carrey.
"The Cable Guy" isn't perfect, but I certainly don't think it's as much of a failure as most say it is.
The DVD
VIDEO:
Recently Tristar has re-issued "Jumanji", which was one of their first efforts, in a special edition. It was amazing that the picture quality from that early disc still stood up to what the studio does today in terms of quality. "The Cable Guy" was another of Tristar's first DVDs, and the transfer is very impressive. Images are consistently razor sharp on this anamorphic transfer, and clear throughout. Colors are bold and don't suffer from bleeding, and black level is strong. Detail is also very good throughout.
You can choose either the letterboxed edition or the pan/scan version - the pan/scan version is completely useless, as the cinematography uses much of the 2.35:1 frame, as can be viewed on the letterboxed side. There are really no problems with the transfer aside from a few short instances of shimmering. Problems with the print used are non-existent and overall, this is very strong work for one of the early DVD efforts from the studio.
SOUND: Like most comedies, there isn't that much going on with the audio on "The Cable Guy". The audio does have one strong aspect though, and that's the music. Composed mostly of rock tunes, the score sounds well-recorded, clean and dynamic - Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot" during the basketball game, for example. There really isn't that much coming from the surrounds, nor does there need to be for most of a movie like this one. Dialogue sounds fine - natural and clean.
MENUS:: As with most of the early menus from Columbia/Tristar, these are painfully basic, with just "buttons" to select for the various options.
EXTRAS:: Nothing.
Final Thoughts Tristar is going back to re-do many of their early titles on DVD, and I can only hope that this will be re-done in a future special edition.
-Jim Carrey's character in "The Cable Guy".
Many were angered by the results of Jim Carrey's first 20 million dollar paycheck and still, many bring up the film as being Carrey's one failure. Although it didn't quite make the budget back, I think that much of the movie is brilliant satire and that this is the performance from the actor that has the strongest edge to it.
Directed by Ben Stiller, who acted in films like "There's Something About Mary", "The Cable Guy" stars Carrey as Chip Douglas, a rather intense cable repairman who is called in one day to set up the cable in the apartment of Steven Kovacs(Matt Broderick). While it occurs to Steven that his new friend is rather odd, as the film goes on what seemed like the beginings of a friendship becomes the need for a restraining order as Chip places himself into the middle of Steven's life, even telling him how to get back with his girlfriend.
The movie feels rather empty between sequences that are near classic, and some of the funniest bits I've seen from Carrey. Early on in the movie, Chip takes a friendly game of basketball too seriously( he says, "I guess we're playing prison rules now, huh?"). There are other scenes such as a battle at a "Midevil Times" restaurant that parodies a "Star Trek" episode and Chip doing a karaoke jam to "Somebody To Love". As scary as Carrey's character becomes, there are still enough humorous moments and remarks from the character to keep watching. There's also an intensity to whatever role Carrey plays that is at times remarkable. Broderick, on the other hand, plays the character as a little too annoyed and a little boring in the role, looking as if he's feeling overshadowed by Carrey.
"The Cable Guy" isn't perfect, but I certainly don't think it's as much of a failure as most say it is.
The DVD
VIDEO:
Recently Tristar has re-issued "Jumanji", which was one of their first efforts, in a special edition. It was amazing that the picture quality from that early disc still stood up to what the studio does today in terms of quality. "The Cable Guy" was another of Tristar's first DVDs, and the transfer is very impressive. Images are consistently razor sharp on this anamorphic transfer, and clear throughout. Colors are bold and don't suffer from bleeding, and black level is strong. Detail is also very good throughout.
You can choose either the letterboxed edition or the pan/scan version - the pan/scan version is completely useless, as the cinematography uses much of the 2.35:1 frame, as can be viewed on the letterboxed side. There are really no problems with the transfer aside from a few short instances of shimmering. Problems with the print used are non-existent and overall, this is very strong work for one of the early DVD efforts from the studio.
SOUND: Like most comedies, there isn't that much going on with the audio on "The Cable Guy". The audio does have one strong aspect though, and that's the music. Composed mostly of rock tunes, the score sounds well-recorded, clean and dynamic - Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot" during the basketball game, for example. There really isn't that much coming from the surrounds, nor does there need to be for most of a movie like this one. Dialogue sounds fine - natural and clean.
MENUS:: As with most of the early menus from Columbia/Tristar, these are painfully basic, with just "buttons" to select for the various options.
EXTRAS:: Nothing.
Final Thoughts Tristar is going back to re-do many of their early titles on DVD, and I can only hope that this will be re-done in a future special edition.
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