After proposing to his girlfriend, and getting turned down, Steven has just moved into a new apartment. What he doesn't realize is that the cable guy that shows up at his new place takes the little bit of kindness that Steve shows him and obsesses over it. While Steve sees the new "friend" as a casual acquaintance that just gave him free premium channels, The Cable Guy starts smothering Steve with unwanted attention. When Carrey's character starts giving Steve advice on how to win his old girlfriend back and also drops off tons of new AV equipment off in the apartment, Steve begins to have mixed feelings about the new friend's intentions. On the one hand, the advice for Robin (Leslie Mann), seems to be working out, but things get a little out of control when the new TV and stereo bring in a rather unusual party crowd, all claiming to be more preferred characters of "Chip Douglas," the fake name Carrey's character goes by for most of the movie.
When Steve tries to break things off with Chip, it becomes obvious that he is more than just a little off balanced. Soon Chip stalks not only Steve, but also Robin and eventually invites himself to a dinner party at Steve's family. During this whole time, the crazed cable installer is winning everyone over and the more Steve gets mad at Chip, the more Steve's family and friends see him falling into a dark place. The only person Steve knows that doesn't seem to be falling for Chip's charisma is his friend, Rick (Jack Black in one of his first major movie roles). When Chip gets Steve arrested for receiving stolen goods (the aforementioned TV and stereo system), Rick starts doing some serious investigation into Chip's history.
There is a definite message being told in The Cable Guy. Chip is a character who was raised by television. Proclaiming himself to be the bastard son of Clair Huxtable, the lost Cunningham and the fact that he learned about the facts of life from The Facts of Life, Chip warns parents against ignoring their children and letting them experience everything through the television, the "babysitter." While the message is both loud and clear, you never get the feeling that you are being hit over the head with it.
The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition comes with quite a few special features that, as far as I can tell, haven't been released before. Not only is there a brand new commentary track featuring Carrey, Judd Apatow and Ben Stiller (one of the few movies he has directed), but there is also old footage of scene rehearsals and even Mann's Audition. There is also a good Gag Reel and quite a few deleted scenes that were, quite frankly, better left out of the picture. This Blu-ray also comes with the HBO First Look and the Comedy Central Canned Ham behind the scenes shows for this movie. Overall, a nice collection of special features that are sure to entice most existing fans.
The Cable Guy is a comedy, but it is a dark one that draws most of its humorous moments from the awkward positions Carrey's character puts Broderick's in. Between being forced to fight in the arena of Medieval Times to playing Porno Password with his mother, Steve ends up getting placed in some hard to believe circumstances. Because of that, it isn't the typical Jim Carrey film that anyone just discovering his older films is likely to enjoy, so for those who haven't already seen and know they like The Cable Guy, The 15th Anniversary Edition is probably more of a rental than a purchase, but for those long-time fans of the film, you might want to go ahead and buy this version, even if you already own it on the older medium. There isn't anything about the film that says its a must-see in HD, but for those existing fans, the special features might be enough to warrant the purchase.
