The Cable Guy
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| The Cable Guy | |
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Ben Stiller |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Judd Apatow Bernie Brillstein (executive) |
| Written by | Judd Apatow Ben Stiller (uncredited) Lou Holtz Jr. |
| Starring | Jim Carrey Matthew Broderick Leslie Mann Jack Black George Segal Diane Baker and Ben Stiller |
| Music by | John Ottman |
| Cinematography | Robert Brinkmann |
| Editing by | Steven Weisberg |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 14, 1996 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $47 million |
| Gross revenue | $102,825,796 |
The Cable Guy is a 1996 black comedy film featuring, and directed by Ben Stiller and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. The film also features Leslie Mann, Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Kyle Gass. It was released in North America on Friday, June 14, 1996 by Columbia Pictures.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
A TV-obsessed cable installer, who gives his name as Ernie "Chip" Douglas (Jim Carrey), installs Steven Kovacs' (Matthew Broderick) cable television service after Steven moves out of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend Robin (Leslie Mann). After he illegally gives Steven free pay channels, Chip believes he and Steven have struck up a friendship. Chip begins to bombard Steven with calls and follows him around, his mood frequently swinging between manic and depressive. Chip shows his affection in odd ways, such as arranging a duel between the two and giving his new pal a (stolen) massive entertainment system. Despite this, Steven comes to like his new pal. However, Steven's patience is exhausted after he learns that a beautiful women he had sex with was actually a prostitute hired by Chip. Steven expels Chip from his life, causing the latter man to snap. Chip resorts to stalking Steven and Robin to get the attention he feels he deserves.
First, Chip has the police arrest Steven at work for having possession of the stolen entertainment system, but Steven gets out on bail. The aftermath of this incident prompts Steven's close friend Rick (Jack Black), who has had a deep suspicion of Chip from the beginning, to look into Chip's background. Chip later threatens to blackmail Steven by showing Robin a picture he took of Steven with the prostitute while having dinner at Steven's parents house, but fails after Steven punches Chip in the face in front of everyone else in the house after Chip whispers in Steven's ear that he has slept with Robin. The next day, Chip leaks a video of Steven with Robin with him insulting his boss to all of the computers at his office. Steven ends up getting fired as a result. After returning home, Rick calls Steven and tells him he found evidence of Chip's past. Rick says that Chip uses aliases to conceal his identity and has been previously fired from the cable company for stalking his customers. Rick insists that Steven should lock himself up in his house to avoid Chip at all costs. That night, Steven gets another phone call from Chip, who says he is going 'out' with Robin, but does not mention where.
Chip takes Robin up to the massive TV satellite transmitter where he often "hangs out," taking her hostage. Steven hears about Chip's whereabouts from Robin's neighbor. He drives up to the satellite and brawls with Chip, eventually getting the better of him. Chip then becomes remorseful, lamenting his inability to be a good friend to Steven. While the much-publicized trial of an accused murderer and former child star (played by director Ben Stiller) is about to come to a conclusion, Chip ends up diving off of a part of the satellite's massive antenna and lands heavily on a smaller spire which is responsible for sending the signal to the nation's television sets, causing everybody's TV to blackout just before the trial's verdict is announced. Chip survives his fall whilst damaging his spine, and he calms down, separated from Steven and Robin. As he is air-lifted to a hospital, a paramedic comforts him; Chip sees the paramedic as his new friend, and as the credits are about to roll, he flashes the camera a devious smile.
[edit] Cast
- Jim Carrey as Ernie "Chip" Douglas (The Cable Guy)
- Matthew Broderick as Steven M. Kovacs
- Leslie Mann as Robin Harris
- Jack Black as Rick
- George Segal as Mr. Kovacs
- Diane Baker as Mrs. Kovacs
- Ben Stiller as Sam Sweet / Stan Sweet
- Eric Roberts as Himself
- Janeane Garofalo as Medieval Times Waitress
- Andy Dick as Medieval Times Host
- Harry O'Reilly as Steven's Boss
- David Cross as Sales Manager
- Amy Stiller as Steven's Secretary
- Owen Wilson as Robin's Date
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical
The Cable Guy is regarded as having a darker tone than most of Carrey's previous work, because he plays the antagonist, a stalker, and in a movie that pointed out class differences and possibly poked fun at blue collar workers (a significant portion of his fan base at that point). Audiences had mixed reactions to this change of character for Carrey and film critics gave mixed reviews. The movie scored 50% on Rotten Tomatoes,[1] giving it a "rotten" score. The film was also noted for its similarities to the Australian telemovie The Plumber (1979), written and directed by Peter Weir.
[edit] Box office
The film grossed $19,806,226 on its opening weekend. It grossed a total $60,240,295 in the domestic market, and $42,585,501 outside the U.S, making a total of $102,825,796 worldwide gross. Despite the perception that the movie was a flop, it made a profit having a budget of $47 million.[2]
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] 1997 MTV Movie Awards
- Best Comic Performance - Jim Carrey (won)
- Best Villain - Jim Carrey (won)
[edit] Soundtrack
| Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
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|---|---|---|
| File:CableGuySoundtrackCover.jpg | ||
| Soundtrack by Various Artists | ||
| Released | May 21, 1996 | |
| Genre | Soundtrack | |
| Label | Columbia | |
| Professional reviews | ||
The Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the official soundtrack.[3] It consists of previously unreleased songs, largely of alternative rock and post-grunge bands, and includes the first solo recording by Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains fame. The soundtrack includes Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" which was performed by Jim Carrey in the film. It also includes a song from $10,000 Gold Chain, a side project of Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready. However, it does not include White Zombie's "More Human than Human," which is featured in a dramatic scene of the film.
Cantrell's "Leave Me Alone" served as the soundtrack's promotional vehicle and had a music video. This featured various footage from Cable Guy in a dark manner typical of Cantrell's style. It also had Jim Carrey's haunting face reaching out of a television screen at the observing Cantrell. While the album as a whole was not well received, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic noted that "Leave Me Alone" positively "rocks as hard as any Alice in Chains track."
The track "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" gained popularity for its appearance in the film and reached #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks in 1996.
[edit] Track listing
- I'll Juice You Up - Jim Carrey
- Leave Me Alone - Jerry Cantrell
- Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand - Primitive Radio Gods
- Blind - Silverchair
- Oh! Sweet Nuthin' - $10,000 Gold Chain
- End of the World is Coming - David Hilder
- Satellite of Love - Porno For Pyros
- Get Outta My Head - Cracker
- Somebody to Love - Jim Carrey
- Chillin - Wale ft Lady Gaga
- The Last Assassin - Cypress Hill
- This is - Ruby
- Hey Man, Nice Shot - Filter
- Unattractive - Toadies
- Download - Expanding Man
- This Concludes Our Broadcast Day - John Ottman
[edit] Chart positions
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Leave Me Alone" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 14 |
[edit] In popular culture
- On the season 11 episode of The Simpsons, "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner," Homer goes to a Planet Hollywood-esque restaurant where he sees several props from famous movies, like the mug from Heartbeeps, the cane from Citizen Kane, and, according to Bart, the awful script from "The Cable Guy" (which Homer tears because the movie "almost ruined Jim Carrey's career").
- The film is one of the earliest of the Frat Pack films, due to the involvement of Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson.
- When Jim Carrey is singing "Dont you want somebody to love" he makes reference to the Rolling Stones/Jefferson Airplane gig at Altamont in 1969.
- In the 13th episode of season 2 titled "Proud Dick" of 3rd Rock from the Sun, protagonist Dick ridicules the film by saying, "Should Jim Carrey apologize for 'The Cable Guy'?! Well, perhaps."
- A recurring character on Crank Yankers is named Chip Douglas, voiced by Fred Armisen.
- A line in the song "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me For Me)" by Blessid Union of Souls is "She likes me for me/ Not because I'm tough like Dirty Harry/ Make her laugh just like Jim Carrey/ Unlike The Cable Guy."
- A line in the Beastie Boys song Ch-Check It Out is "You look upset, yo calm down / You look like cable guy dunked off of your crown"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ The Cable Guy - Movie Reviews, Trailers, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes
- ^ The Cable Guy (1996)
- ^ The Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Amazon.com. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Cable Guy |
| Preceded by The Rock |
Box office number-one films of 1996 (USA) June 16, 1996 |
Succeeded by Eraser |
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