The Cable Guy (1996/Sony Blu-ray) + I Love
You Philip Morris (2010/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture: B-/C+ Sound: B Extras: C-/D Features: C-/D
The rise
and fall of Jim Carrey as a movie star and box office attraction is one of the
oddest stories in recent Hollywood history and
one no one is really discussing. So what
happened? After In Living Color, some odd work in Clint Eastwood films and other
work, he had a bad film become a surprise hit in the very, very bad box office
of early 1994. The first Ace Ventura was a hit, but because it
was dumb, gross and crude in what would be a deal with the devil. However, people wanted to see him act wild.
Writers
were calling him ‘the king of embarrassment’ and his next three films (The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, Batman
Forever) were blockbuster hits, then came an Ace Ventura sequel he later regretted and that was followed by the
huge bomb The Cable Guy in
1996. This odd entry in the ‘houseguest
from hell’ cycle had Carrey in the title role tormenting average guy Matthew
Broderick, directed by sometimes funny actor Ben Stiller and co-produced by
just-getting-up-to-speed Judd Apatow.
The film
has not aged well, though the older technology is now unintentionally funny,
but the big mistake was to have Carrey do a dark comedy and since his comic
persona was walking the thin line between public life and personal issues, this
turned out to be a mess. Leslie Mann,
George Segal and much lesser-known-at-the-time Jack Black and Owen Wilson turn
up, but it never clicks. Now it is a
curio.
Carrey
next had a safe hit with Liar Liar
and tried to go serious in several films after that killed his comedy
credentials altogether. No one was ever
going to accept him as a serious actor after all of his outrageous
performances, so he then moved to surreal territory that did not work (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Number 23, maybe Lemony Snicket fits here) tried another feel good film that bombed
(The Majestic) and comedy remake
that could have (Fun With Dick &
Jane). Only his children’s comedies
were working (How The Grinch Stole
Christmas, Horton Hears A Who)
so what to do next? Another bad comedy.
I Love You Philip Morris (2010) misleadingly sounds like
he might go after the tobacco companies in some kind of bold political and
corporate satire, but instead, we get a really bad mess (with two directors!)
about a young man who turns out to be adapted, then gay, then grows up to be a
com man and this leads a long prison sentence (the film takes place there much
of the time and you’ll feel like you are trapped there too) when he meets the
title character (a wasted Ewan McGregor) who he really, really likes.
But this
is pointless, is not even certain what is funny or what funny is (are the gay
jokes and situations supposed to be laugh-with or laugh-at gay men? They don’t know either) and it proves Carrey
is out of ideas, as are everyone else (but McGregor, who did better in
Polanski’s Ghost Writer) and in a
very bad omen, the film includes Carrey’s Cable
Guy co-star Leslie Mann (now Mrs. Judd Apatow) shows up, so this should
tell both of them to never make anything together again!
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Guy
is an older HD master that has a lack of detail, flatness and even dullness
that is still better than any previous video versions, but we have seen worse
and some shots look good. The 1.78 X 1
digital High Definition image on Morris
is soft and fuzzy throughout with noise and poor color all the way. Also note the motion blur. Both at least sound good in DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) lossless 5.1 mixes, so that helps make them a bit more bearable, but not
by much. Extras on both include Deleted/Extended
Scenes, feature length audio commentary tracks with Guy featuring a new one made for the Blu-ray, Making Of featurettes
and trailers. Guy adds BD Live interactivity, a Gag Reel, Leslie Mann audition,
Music Video, Gag Reel and TV programs from HBO and Comedy Central trying to
launch the film into being a hit.
- Nicholas Sheffo
