The Cable Guy

Carrey, reaching a point in his career when he desperately needs to branch out into new, more diverse roles, offers a very strange concoction in the form of his Cable Guy.

Told by his best pals that a quick bribe will get him all the Disney and movie channels for free, Steven Kovacs (Broderick) gets more than than he bargained for in the shape of his manic cable installation bloke. Disturbingly twitchy from the moment he arrives, the eponymous guy soon begins to assimilate himself into every aspect of Steve's life - even his tenuous relationship with the lovely Robin (Mann). When Steve tries to shake off his incredibly needy and unwanted new friend, things take a bizarre and macabre turn for the worse.

A film which was oddly mis-marketed, The Cable Guy was viewed by many as a bit of a bomb and many critics were bold enough to imagine egg on Carrey's face. But, on the whole, it is a simple case of a misunderstanding. This is not a follow-up to the frantic comedic shenanigans of Ace Ventura or Dumb and Dumber - this is, if not a totally black comedy, certainly a significant shade of grey. Carrey's depiction of the grippy, demanding, overtly obsessed Cable Guy is at once bold, surprising and quite frequently deeply chilling. As a stepping stone from comedy (yes, Carrey is still effortlessly funny) to serious drama (the $15 million-a-film star's next film is to be a drama directed by Peter Weir, the man who made Robin Williams respectable in Dead Poets Society) The Cable Guy is a freakish failure. But commercial failure does not necessarily mean the film is inherently bad - it is, in fact, an electrifying oddity.

Mark Chambers