So, from a psychodrama to a comedy about a psycho. Part of the essential narrative for a true stalker movie is that the stalker wants to, in some small way, become a natural part of the stalkees life, and tries to force that to happen in artificial ways that betray their delusional nature. Thats certainly what happens here in Ben Stillers black comedy starring Jim Carrey and the hapless-as-usual Matthew Broderick (didnt he used to be the coolest kid in school?), when Carreys Chip comes to install Stevens cable and decides that Steven just has to be his new best friend. A series of unfortunate events unfold, with the rubberfaced, lisping Chip managing to derail Stevens life, horribly and very convincingly, having him arrested, fired and dumped several times over, until a harmless resolution sees the fruitloop simply move on to someone new. Whether you find the film funny, or deeply disturbing, will probably hinge on whether youre able to laugh at a gurning man with a speech impediment ruining a sad sacks life. Whats interesting about The Cable Guy is that theres no real difference between this narrative and a more traditionally thrilling stalker/slasher narrative. Most of the thrust of the story remains the same a delusional stranger shoehorns himself into an innocent mans life and spends ninety minutes pulling it to pieces just with less stabbings and slayings. Its as if the fine line between horror and comedy just comes down to whether you get a knife shoved into your face or not. Funnily enough, the following year, Broderick would play a sad sack stalking his ex-girlfriend in the romantic comedy Addicted To Love, in which were asked to believe that Meg Ryan in her kooky prime would fall for him. A step too far, Matthew. Youre not Ferris anymore.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
