The Cable Guy

This article is about the film. For the comedian, see Larry the Cable Guy.

The Cable Guy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ben Stiller
Written by	Lou Holtz Jr.
Produced by	Judd Apatow Andrew Licht Jeffrey A. Mueller
Starring	Jim Carrey Matthew Broderick Leslie Mann Jack Black George Segal Diane Baker Ben Stiller Eric Roberts Owen Wilson Charles Napier Andy Dick David Cross
Cinematography	Robert Brinkmann
Edited by	Steven Weisberg
Music by	John Ottman
Production company	Brillstein-Grey Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	June 14, 1996 (1996-06-14)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$47 million
Box office	$102,825,796

The Cable Guy is a 1996 American dark comedy film, directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. It was released in North America on June 14, 1996 by Columbia Pictures.

Plot

After a failed marriage proposal to his girlfriend Robin Harris (Leslie Mann), Steven M. Kovacs (Matthew Broderick) moves into his own apartment after they agree to spend some time apart. Enthusiastic cable guy Ernie "Chip" Douglas (Jim Carrey), an eccentric man with a lisp, installs his cable. Taking advice from his friend Rick (Jack Black), Steven bribes Chip to give him free movie channels, to which Chip agrees. Before he leaves, Chip gets Steven to hang out with him the next day and makes him one of his "preferred customers".

As promised, Chip arrives the next day, and he takes Steven to the satellite dish responsible for sending out television signals. Steven tells his problems with Robin to Chip, who tells him to admit his faults to Robin and invite her over to watch Sleepless in Seattle, which is running on HBO the next night. Steven takes Chip's advice, and Robin agrees to watch the movie with him. The next day, Chip begins acting more suspicious, "running into" Steven and his friends at the gym and leaving 10 messages on Steven's answering machine. When Robin arrives to watch the movie, the cable is out, thanks to Chip, who intentionally sabotaged Steven's cable when he didn't call Chip back. Chip fixes the cable under the condition that they hang out again. Steven agrees.

The next evening, Chip takes Steven to Medieval Times, where Chip arranges for them to battle in the arena, referencing the Star Trek episode "Amok Time". Chip behaves aggressively, nearly killing Steven, who eventually bests him in combat. Afterwards, Chip congratulates Steven, who decides the experience was fun. When they arrive at Steven's home, Chip reveals that he's installed an expensive home theater system in his living room. Chip and Steven later host a party, complete with a karaoke sing-off. With Chip's help, Steven sleeps with a woman named Heather, while Chip serenades the party by singing Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love". The next morning Chip reveals that Heather is a prostitute. Furious, Steven throws Chip out. Chip tells Steven he will make things better.

Chip tracks down Robin, who is on a date with another man (Owen Wilson). When the man goes to the bathroom, Chip beats him up and tells him to stay away from Robin. He later upgrades Robin's cable, saying that it's on Steven. Robin decides to get back together with Steven as a result. Steven tells Chip that they cannot be friends, which hurts Chip. Chip then begins a series of vengeful acts. He gets Steven arrested for possession of stolen property (the home theater system), although Steven is released on bail. Steven is later fired from his job when Chip sends out a video of Steven insulting his boss to the entire office that was recorded on hidden cameras in his apartment.

During a dinner with his family and Robin, Steven is horrified to see Chip is in attendance as well. Steven tells him to leave, but Chip tells him to play along or he will show everyone the picture of him with the prostitute. The evening goes from bad to worse as Chip gets on well with Steven's family and leads everyone in a game of "porno password". Steven finally punches Chip when Chip implies he slept with Robin.

Rick later tells Steven that Chip has been fired from the cable company for stalking customers, and uses the names of television characters as aliases. Chip calls Steven that night, telling him he's paying Robin a visit. Steven tracks them down to the satellite dish, where Chip holds Robin hostage. After a physical altercation and a chase, Steven gets the upper hand and is able to save Robin. As the police arrive, Chip goes into a long speech on how he was raised by television ("I learned the facts of life by watching The Facts of Life!") and apologizes to Steven for being a bad friend. He then dives into the satellite dish, which knocks out the cable across the entire town, just as the verdict in a highly publicized case involving a famous child star is about to be revealed. The following scene shows a man (Kyle Gass) turning off his television and picking up a book, noticeably intrigued.

Chip survives the fall, but injures his back. As Steven and Robin reunite, Steven forgives Chip and asks for his real name. Chip jokingly replies "Ricky Ricardo". Chip is later taken to the hospital in a helicopter. When one of the paramedics addresses him as "buddy", Chip asks the paramedic if he is truly his buddy, to which the paramedic replies, "Sure," causing Chip to smile deviously just before the credits roll.

Cast

• Jim Carrey as Ernie "Chip" Douglas / Larry Tate / Ricky Ricardo
• Matthew Broderick as Steven M. Kovacs
• Leslie Mann as Robin Harris
• Jack Black as Rick Legatos
• George Segal as Mr. Kovacs
• Diane Baker as Mrs. Kovacs
• Ben Stiller as Sam Sweet/Stan Sweet
• Eric Roberts as Himself
• Owen Wilson as Robin's date
• Charles Napier as Police Officer
• Janeane Garofalo as Medieval Times Waitress
• David Cross as Sales Manager
• Andy Dick as Medieval Times Host
• Harry O'Reilly as Steven's Boss Hal
• Amy Stiller as Steven's Secretary
• Bob Odenkirk as Party guest

Production

First-time screenwriter Lou Holtz Jr. had the idea for The Cable Guy while working as a prosecutor in Los Angeles, declaring that once he saw the cable guy on the hallway of his mother's apartment he started thinking "What's he doing here so late?" The screenplay became the focus of a bidding war, won by Columbia Pictures at a price of $1 million. Chris Farley was attached to star, but dropped out because of scheduling difficulties. Jim Carrey signed on along with writer-producer Judd Apatow and director Ben Stiller. Carrey was paid a then-record $20 million to star. The original screenplay by Lou Holtz Jr. was a lighter comedy, described by Apatow as "a What About Bob? annoying-friend movie" where the Cable Guy was a likable loser who intrudes upon the cable subscriber's life, but never in a physically threatening way. Apatow and Stiller liked the setup of " somebody who is really smart with technology invading somebody's life", and opted to add slapstick and darker tones, changing into a satire of thrillers such as Cape Fear, Unlawful Entry and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. The dialogue would also fit Carrey's style of comedy. Holtz wrote four additional drafts, each one darker than the previous, before leaving the project. Apatow took over the writing - though he went uncredited for not fulfilling the WGA screenwriting credit system regarding how much a producer had to work on to be credited as writer as well - and had elements so disturbing that Columbia had many complaints on some scenes. In turn Apatow declared that the studio did not specifically order removals, "but we took [the scenes] out as part of the natural evolution of our creative process." Stiller stated that he shot every scene with "a dark version and a light version", and that he was surprised that the studio did not object to the violent ending.

Reception

Critical response

The Cable Guy is regarded as having a darker tone than most of Carrey's previous work. Audiences had mixed reactions to this change of tone for Carrey and film critics gave mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 54% based on 56 reviews.

The film was on J. Hoberman's Top 10 best of the year. Roger Ebert included The Cable Guy in his worst of the year list for 1996, though colleague Gene Siskel disagreed.

The film was also noted for its similarities to the Australian telemovie The Plumber (1979), which was written and directed by Peter Weir, who would later direct Carrey in The Truman Show (1998).

Box office

The film grossed $19,806,226 on its opening weekend. It grossed a total $60,240,295 in the North American domestic market, and $42,585,501 outside the U.S, making a total of $102,825,796 worldwide gross. Despite the critic perception that the movie was a flop, it made a profit in excess of its $47 million production budget. It has gained cult-like status among movie-goers.

Awards and nominations

1997 MTV Movie Awards

• Best Comic Performance - Jim Carrey (Won)
• Best Villain - Jim Carrey (Won)
• Best Fight - Jim Carrey vs. Matthew Broderick (Nominated)

1997 Kid's Choice Awards

• Favorite Movie Actor - Jim Carrey (Won)

Soundtrack

Untitled

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

The Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the official soundtrack. It consists of previously unreleased songs, largely of alternative rock and heavy metal bands, and includes the first solo recording by Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains fame. The soundtrack includes Jim Carrey's version of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" which was performed by him 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.

Track listing

1. "I'll Juice You Up" – Jim Carrey
2. "Leave Me Alone" – Jerry Cantrell
3. "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" – Primitive Radio Gods
4. "Blind" – Silverchair
5. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (The Velvet Underground cover) – $10,000 Gold Chain
6. "End of the World is Coming" – David Hilder
7. "Satellite of Love" – Porno for Pyros
8. "Get Outta My Head" – Cracker
9. "Somebody to Love" – Jim Carrey
10. "The Last Assassin" – Cypress Hill
11. "This Is" – Ruby
12. "Hey Man, Nice Shot" (Promo-Only Remix) – Filter
13. "Unattractive" – Toadies
14. "Download" – Expanding Man
15. "This Concludes Our Broadcast Day" – John Ottman

Chart positions

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1996	"Leave Me Alone"	Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	14

Popular culture

On an episode of The Simpsons ("Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"), Bart notices The Cable Guy script on the wall at Planet Hollywood, and dialogue is as follows: Bart, "There's that awful script from The Cable Guy." Homer, "Let me see that. (tears up the script) Stupid script! Nearly wrecked Jim Carrey's career!"

Director Ben Stiller appeared on a segment of Sesame Street in 2000, in which he sings about the "cable guy" being one of the people in your neighborhood.

In addition, a line in the 1999 Blessid Union of Souls song "Hey Leonardo (She Likes Me for Me)" references the film and critiques Carrey's performance in the line "I make her laugh just like Jim Carrey, unlike The Cable Guy".

"Party II (Time to Go)" by MxPx, from The Renaissance EP, contains the lyric, "All my favorite movies have the coolest parties, like The Cable Guy..."

The fight sequence at Medieval Times between Chip (Jim Carrey) and Steven (Matthew Broderick) is a homage to the Star Trek (original series) episode Amok Time - including the use of Vulcan weapons (Lirpa), the dialogue, and the background music. Director Ben Stiller is an admitted Star Trek fan.

A scene of The Ren & Stimpy Show appears when Chip is cooking breakfast. A Marvel heroes comic, Spider-Man, was also mentioned by Jim Carrey. When Steven jumped through the ladder, the cable guy said, "Nice jump, Spider-Man!!!"

Chip (Jim Carrey) mentions that the satellite dish scene near the end of the movie is reminiscent of the James Bond movie GoldenEye. "It's like that movie GoldenEye."

External links

• The Cable Guy at IMDb
• The Cable Guy at AllMovie
• The Cable Guy at Box Office Mojo
• The Cable Guy at Rotten Tomatoes