 I hope you have a swimsuit nearby because we're going to be doing some channel surfing in no time. It's The Cable Guy vs The Critics on Movie Feuds. Chip Douglas. Chip Douglas. Where have I heard that name before? Ask Jack Black who's in this movie. He not doing anything for you? How about Matthew Broderick? He's one of the leads. He was good in one film called Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Nothing Ever Again, but here he's serviceable. Here he works. If those guys aren't enough, how about Owen Wilson or Leslie Mann? George Siegel. He ring a bell to you? If not, you're probably a youngster and you watch the Goldbergs in which case he's Pops. Andy Dick. Gene Garoppolo. David Cross. There are so many great fun actors coming and going in this Ben Stiller picture. You won't believe it. None of them compete with Jim Carrey, which is the reason we're all here anyways. They're just icing on the cake. Here he plays Cable Installer Chip Douglas or maybe he's Larry Tate or one of the other aliases he goes by from popular TV shows. Not gonna lie, it bums me out to see this movie sitting at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.1 on IMDb. More depressing, the audience score is worse at 51%. What happened? That's right, the audiences were somehow less impressed than the snobby critics who generally aren't fans of comedy. I think it's probably fair to say that audiences just weren't ready for this kind of Carrey film. He's darker, he's more bizarre and awkward, and he's definitely not that funny, brilliant pet detective or the lovable idiot and dumb and dumber. And he's certainly not the show boating anti-hero in the mask. Sure, he played the Riddler, but even there he was less awkward and creepy than he is in The Cable Guy. The fatherless, teeny raised man just wanted to hang out. No big deal. Turns out though, it was in fact a very big deal for one Steven Kovacs, and we're gonna talk about that in round two. Steven Kovacs is having some marital problems, he's on a break, and he got his own place. One that has all the makings of a great bachelor pad minus one key feature, cable. This movie came out before streaming services were readily available so just roll with it, okay? Here we're introduced to our main antagonist, Chip Douglas. He juices Steven up with some sweet free cable channels along with some very extravagant gifts, such as a brand new big screen TV. Nothing in life is free, folks, and these presents are no exception. Soon, Steven learns that his new buddy and friendship with Chip is moving much faster than he ever imagined. Before he knows it, he's being set up with prostitutes, severing ties with friends and family, and eventually winding up in jail. Hope because he wanted to save a few bucks, taking a drive on the information super highway. Plot aside, there are so many great sections of film that I still can't imagine people not enjoying. The battle at medieval times, complete with silence of the lambs and wrath of spock references, an incredibly awkward game of porno password with the whole family, the best karaoke performance ever delivered, and a basketball game that ends in a boosted slam dunk. Plus, there's the background mini story of Ben Stiller's character Sam Sweet going to trial. God, I love this movie. If you're gonna harp on something in The Cable Guy, I guess it would be the production values. They're not bad. They're just very kind of by the books. It still looks good, though. It's mainly filmed using stationary cameras with an occasionally odd dolly shot thrown in. There is a cool hallway peephole sequence where Carrie is full-blown psychopath, yet still simultaneously being funny. It's a really hard balance to juggle, and I can understand why some audience members just didn't like it. They're fools, but I get it. Jim Carrey's singing wants somebody to love with old people tripping balls is probably the craziest the film gets in terms of effects, and it's still incredibly basic. Stiller isn't trying to set the world ablaze with film tricks and whatnot. He's very much focused on the humor and on the actors, and I think he played his cards just right. This is the fun part where I get to read bad takes by critics who are paid to have bad opinions, I guess. The Cable Guy is so repellent as to be almost literally unwatchable. This comedy isn't dark, it's extinguished. It isn't entertainment, it's pathology. I could tell this was a newish comment from 2018 because they use the term literally in the dumbest way possible. Almost literally unwatchable. What a stupid comment. In this uneasy and uneasy-making hybrid of a comedy and psychological horror, Carrey is all aggression. I mean, yeah, he's playing the villain here. It's not like this movie is supposed to be a subtle, complex thing about the inner workings of the human psyche. It's a straightforward, silly, dumb film trying to be funny, trying to make us laugh. That's like saying Dr. Evil is too maniacal and Austin Powers. I mean, come on. Throw me a freaking bone. Stiller's film ranks as an honorable failure. Nigel Floyd from Time Out. I'd argue with him, but his name is Nigel. And by American law, I can't because he's smarter than me based on name alone. And he probably got beat up a lot as a kid, so I feel kind of bad. Too often, the movie ends up lost in the snow and static between two films fighting for the same bandwidth. Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail. Ron Tomatoes needs a poll quote. How many TV references can I spew into one sentence? Static. Bandwidth. Cancel this one. Change the channel. Not even remotely funny, Liam. I pulled my YouTube community at Adam Does Movies. It's a channel on YouTube. Subscribe if you haven't. We do some fun stuff here. And by we, I mean me. It's a one person show. Anyway, if you do, you might be on the right side of history like these fine folks in the 79% category that agreed with me that Cable Guy is in fact a good movie. The other 21% of you that voted against this film are sad, empty, petty little fools will die alone on a bed of your own dried up tears. Thanks for watching. And remember, this is more than just reviews. This is Movie Feuds.