Change Your Image
patandkris
Reviews
The Cable Guy (1996)
Why I Keep On Enjoying The Cable Guy
I am not sure if I agree that Cable Guy was his last great film, or his greatest, but I have to say that it is my favorite among his movies, all of which are very enjoyable to me. Yes he over-acts, but he does it in a fun way that doesn't take me out of my suspension of disbelief, but it does perfectly sell the moment. You know how when a friend is retelling a funny story, and you want them to retell it perfectly, but it never quite lives up to expectations? With Jim Carrey he totally delivers every time because he is either that talented, and/or he works it until it is perfect and then lets the director count it on film.
The Cable guy is better every time you watch it. Almost all of my friends and family didn't like it the first time they saw it, yet almost without exception they all love it now. I had to push them at first, and kind of hand-fed them some of the jokes, and the subtle nuances in the scenes, but eventually they all started to appreciate it throughout the movie. We were all impressed with the writer, Lou Holtz Jr, whom we are all enthusiastically waiting for another script leading to another movie. He really gave the film Team a wonderful foundation with which to perform.
I think the reason it is my favorite is because of its disguise. At first it was supposed to be a mega commercial hit, and had all the trappings of one. And then it was a big commercial and critic-review letdown because they let Jim go too nuts, and because it was too dark. But the few of us that could see that it was not a superficial commercial hit, and saw the tremendous work that went into the script, into every scene, and the characters, and then to be totally irreverent and paradoxical to the extreme. It is a dark comedy, not a disturbing comedy, that if taken too seriously shows a troubled guy ruining many peoples lives. It's just a comedy that doesn't hold back anything, and actually goes after everything that is, or could be, taboo. And it is my favorite Carrey movie simply because it is kind of a hidden jewel that keeps being funny over and over again, and often reveals more reasons to laugh with each new viewing.
Some of my favorite scenes, that I don't hear many people talking about are the following: 1.) At the beginning, when "Chip" just met Steven and as the cable guy is looking for the location of the old cable connection behind Steven's apartment wall. He treats the pursuit for the old cable like a pursuit of a female conquest and talks like a guy with a lisp who thinks he's a ladies man romancing a wanting woman. "Tell me how you like it..." and "Here's the sweet spot" as he circles the wall with his fore finger and with the camera head on, lays is face on its side flat against the wall. And then, as usual in this movie, the scene climax comes with full power as he quickly pulls out his drill and deftly puts his big drill bit in the drill and quickly and powerfully powers up the drill and thrusts it into the wall, while at the same time moans his words to Steven as he thrusts the drill. And the words to Steven are creepy because he knows that Steven had a recent breakup with his girlfriend and as he is thrusting he is saying Steven's ex-girlfriend's name. It's almost like Chip is thrusting into Steven's girlfriend as he is drilling the wall for the new cable. It was perfectly synchronized and delivered.
But it's not over, the scene still could be better (not because I needed it to be better, but because these guys who wrote and made the movie really knew how to make it better and took the time to do it right). The climax hit when Steven took offense to Chip's unwelcome intrusion into his personal life, and declined when Chip backed off which was the anti-climax moment, and as the tension started to release and the camera pulled away, you could see Steven (Mathew Broderick) discretely pull his robe to cover up a bit more, if as to say that he was a little worried about this guy's advances, again playing off Chip using the cable installation as an allegory of an aggressive romantic conquest and Steven being somewhat as an unsure potential sexual victim having witnessed the unwelcome yet totally masterful advances of Chip.
2.) The morning after the Karaoke party, breakfast with scramby eggs 3.) Living Bert Reynolds character in Sharky's Machine at the restaurant when Steven's ex-girlfriend is on a first date with Owen Wilson, and Chip is trying (and succeeding of course) to mess things up for Owen.
Sorry, I want to explain why I liked the second and third example, but no time left! Maybe later and thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your thoughts on The Cable Guy! Pat Wilson
Harry & Son (1984)
A truly well done and meaningful film
The reason I have such fond memories of this movie is because I remember how I felt (and still do - but it's not the same as the first time) the first time I saw it on video, in maybe 1993, and the feelings it provoked in me.
I graduated from high school in 1984, the year the film was made, and my mother had passed away earlier in 1979, leaving me to grow up after 13 years of age with my father and younger sister. My older brother was soon to go into the Air Force, and my older sister was already away to college. While there were many differences between Paul Newman's character and my own father, the fundamental relationship he had with Robby Benson was right on the mark with me and my father. My father died when I was 26, in 1993. I think that Robby Benson's character was a few years younger when his dad in the movie died, but it was close enough to hit home with me. I, like the Benson character, was a little aimless after high school, and my father did seem to have more patience with me at times, he could give me some harsh input at other times. And my father went for 10 years without dating anyone after my mother passed away, but towards the end of his life he did find a woman that he had a lot of fun with, and we all did things together at times as well. My father was also about the same age as Newman's character when he died, and I was present right after he had his final heart attack and died at home.
Now that I have explained some similarities with my life and the movie, I'll get back to why I liked the movie so much. It wasn't because of the coincidental similarities between my life and the movie, but because my life is real, and many people have many of these same basic father-son dynamics, and the writers(half Newman), actors (big part Newman), and director (Newman again)somehow pulled off an amazing dose of reality with this film that is common to all of us. Newman just commits himself so honestly. He has that seriousness in his character that at times is how many capable, grounded, but real fathers are; sometimes mixes it up with a humor that is just as honest and bold, maybe even irreverent, and then other times when they're with their sons and they have a 'comradery'. And then other times when fathers are just plain irritated, and the son knows he's on his father's bad side at the moment, and he should be worried, but he also knows that his father is a softy down deep. However a son would never challenge him and expect that soft side, and the son also instinctively knows that his father isn't perfect but he is much wiser than the him, and he certainly knows the father really does love him and has the son's best interests at heart.
To summarize, first of all the performances in this movie are of a Team who were in touch with the bareness and essence of our life, of our American society and family reality. And then secondly, they somehow manage to give it back to us for us all to see on the screen, and allow us to see ourselves in a new and deeper way. I understand myself and my relationship with my father, and his relationship with me, a little better because of this movie. And that is the goal of any art, and should be the goal of people intending to make good movies. Because this movie taught me so much, I have to say that it I value it is a great movie, it (the whole Team) delivered what might be expected from the title and beyond; it was heart breaking and heart warming, it was meaningful, and I had fun watching it!. Thanks to the whole Team, but a very special thanks to Paul Newman!
Pat Wilson