From Ben Stiller’s uncomfortable black comedy, The Cable Guy, the paranoid Steven (Matthew Broderick) peers through his peephole during a nightmare to find Jim Carrey’s delusional Chip, a Rupert Pupkin-like figure raised by television and now seen through his own distorted screen as a star performer. Divided by a door that represents the privacy Chip invades, he and Steven are actually flip sides of an American condition of alienation and isolation.
Published 15 Feb 2016
As director and star, Ben Stiller sleepwalks through this drab, inconsequential comedy sequel.
Ben Stiller’s comic creation channels the absurd charm of ’60s cult classic Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?
Generational drift and the scourge of hipsterism are examined in Noah Baumbach’s bittersweet comedy of manners.