THE CABLE GUY (39)

Directed by: Ben Stiller

Starring: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick

The Pitch: Cable-guy-from-Hell makes life a misery for mild-mannered yuppie.

Theo Sez: The rating is a little misleading. There's lots of interesting things going on in this comic nightmare, but it turns into such a sour, claustrophobic, ugly-looking movie that it's hard to even feel grateful for them - which is a shame for, as in the first (though not the second) Ace Ventura movie, Carrey's gutsiness is undeniable. He does indeed "go dark", as per the hype, but not through playing a straightforward villain - rather in the guise of a TV-moulded, emotionally immature character who must seem uncomfortably near the bone for a large chunk of the target audience. It's good to see this, as also to see the premise carried to its logical conclusion - Carrey as psycho - but in fact, once one has digested the change of image, there's little point to the film beyond the sight of a big star taking a risk. The cable guy is predictably cartoonish, and invention flags steadily till the whole cast is playing "porno password" - after which there's still half an hour to go, including a barely comic, wholly unnecessary action finale. Fortunately, anyone put off by the thin narrative and unpleasant tone can gawp instead at the barely-disguised homoerotic subtext, or - as in most big Hollywood movies - can ponder a number of intriguing side-questions: why does a broad comedy feel the need to include a po-faced Message about the evils of child neglect? and why does a film like this, full of in-jokes and references recognisable only to Americans, get a worldwide release while European movies are roundly bashed as "parochial"?