The Cable Guy (1996)

Director:

Ben Stiller

Writer (WGA):

Lou Holtz Jr. (written by)

Release Date:

14 June 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

Once you let him into your house, you'll never get him out of your life!

Plot:

A lonely and disturbed cable guy raised on television just wants a new friend, but his target, a designer, rejects him, with bad consequences.

Plot Keywords:

Head In Toilet | Man With No Name | Dark Comedy | Frat Pack | Black Comedy

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Sun. May 25

2:15 AM

TBS

Cast

Jim Carrey	...	The Cable Guy
Matthew Broderick	...	Steven M. Kovacs
Leslie Mann	...	Robin Harris
Jack Black	...	Rick
George Segal	...	Steven's Father
Diane Baker	...	Steven's Mother
Ben Stiller	...	Sam Sweet / Stan Sweet
Eric Roberts	...	Eric Roberts
Janeane Garofalo	...	Medieval Times Waitress
Andy Dick	...	Medieval Times Host
Harry O'Reilly	...	Steven's Boss
David Cross	...	Sales Manager
Amy Stiller	...	Steven's Secretary
Owen Wilson	...	Robin's Date
Keith Gibbs	...	Basketball Player

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for dark thematic elements and crude humor.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

UK:12 (cut) | Iceland:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Denmark:12 | Finland:K-12/9 | Germany:12 | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34332)

Filming Locations:

Carson, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

All of the Cable Guy's aliases are obviously from TV shows - Ernie "Chip" Douglas from "My Three Sons" (1960), Murray Slaughter from "Mary Tyler Moore" (1970), George Jetson from "The Jetsons" (1962), Jean-Luc Picard from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa from "Laverne & Shirley" (1976), Darrin Stevens and Larry Tate from "Bewitched" (1964) and finally Ricky Ricardo from "I Love Lucy" (1951).

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The satellite dish Chip falls into is pointing straight up. Satellite dishes track satellites in geosynchronous orbit, which must orbit at the equator. For the satellite dish to be pointing straight up, it must be on the equator.

Quotes:

The Cable Guy: Sounds like heart break to me.
Steven Kovacs: Well I really don't want to discuss it with you. Could you just install my cable please? I'm gonna go get dressed.
The Cable Guy: Suit yourself. No sweat off my sac. Oh by the way, you might wanna put on a bathing suit 'cause you'll be channel surfing in no time!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Jim Carrey/Soundgarden (#21.20)" (1996)

Soundtrack:

This Is

A Different Slant...

The Cable Guy has now all but been forgotten by the movie world. It was released when Jim Carrey was on his way to being the new A list comedian, and thus, was considered only a slightly funny version of 'Ace Venture'. or The Mask' Or whatever. Personally, I don't consider The Cable Guy a comedy at all. Sure, there are some side splitting moments - Carrey is hilarious alongside Matthew Broderick's by the numbers 'average Joe', but id suggest that anyone who was not taken in by this film to look at it a little differently...

This is a horror film. I swear!

For me, Chip Douglas does not come across to me as a harmless lisping clingy chump - HELL NO! The guy is a maniac. An obsessive, intelligent, controlling, stalking "Fatal Attraction" styled nutter!

Watch it again!

For me, this is Jim Carrey's career launching performance. He has a lisp right? after a while, you don't really notice it do you? Right. This is an incredibly difficult task for an actor - maintaining a speech impediment for an entire film, keeping it level, and not exaggerating it, its really something to take a look at. Carrey's character is sick, and very very creepy. With Broderick et al giving relatively standard performances, Carrey's performance is a stand out, and Ben Stiller should be proud of this film and what it lead to in terms of Jim Carrey's career.

Trust me, if you didn't like this, take another look, and prepare to be freaked out by a very not funny, very creepy Carrey performance...

8/10