The reviews lean mixed, with praise clustering around Jim Carrey’s unsettling performance and the risks of taking his comedy into darker territory. The more receptive critics find humour in the cable technician’s obsessive behaviour, even when it becomes uncomfortable. Empire also praises Matthew Broderick, while Radio Times sees the film as both funny and sobering. There is less agreement that the writing gives the performances enough support, and two inaccessible reviews limit what can be said about the full set of responses.
The spread is wide. Slant Magazine offers the strongest support, finding the dark comedy prophetic and praising Ben Stiller’s handling of physical humour. Empire’s reservation is that the ending retreats from the film’s convictions. Variety finds the screenplay thin and the characters difficult to care about. The Los Angeles Times is harsher still, judging the film increasingly sour and unfunny, though it singles out Stiller’s murder-trial parody for praise.