| The Cable Guy | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ben Stiller |
| Written by | Lou Holtz Jr. |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Robert Brinkmann |
| Edited by | Steven Weisberg |
| Music by | John Ottman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $47 million[2] |
| Box office | $102.8 million[2] |
The Cable Guy is a 1996 Americanblack comedy film directed byBen Stiller and written by Lou Holtz Jr. It starsJim Carrey as an eccentric cable installer who intrudes on the life of a customer (Matthew Broderick).Leslie Mann,George Segal,Diane Baker andJack Black appear in supporting roles.[3] It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film was a box office success, grossing over $100 million, though not to the extent of many of Carrey's previous films. It received mixed reviews from critics, but attained acult following.[4]
After a failed marriage proposal to his girlfriend, Robin Harris, architect Steven Kovacs moves into an apartment. Following his friend Rick's advice, Steven bribes cable installer Chip Douglas to get free movie channels. Chip makes Steven one of his preferred customers and, in return for his services, asks if he can see Steven socially, which Steven begrudgingly agrees to.
On a visit to the city's central satellite dish, Chip confides to Steven that when he was young, his father was absent and his mother used television as a "babysitter". Chip starts to intrude more and more on Steven's life, alienating him from his friends. He begins leaving multiple messages on Steven's answering machine and installs an expensive home theater system as a gift, which Steven rejects.
Steven allows Chip to host a party for his preferred customers at his apartment. During the party, Steven has sex with a woman who turns out to be a prostitute hired by Chip. Learning this, Steven angrily ejects Chip from his apartment. To make amends, Chip tracks down and beats up Robin's date and warns him to stay away, then upgrades her cable, ostensibly as a gift from Steven. Robin gets back together with Steven as a result. However, when Steven finds out Chip's hand in their reunion, he politely ends his friendship with Chip.
Devastated, Chip sets out on a series of vengeful acts. He has Steven arrested for possession of stolen property, embarrasses him at a family gathering, and has him fired by transmitting a recording in which Steven insults his boss onto the company's computers. Chip also reveals that his name is Larry Tate. Rick investigates the name and finds that he was fired from the cable company for using fake names and stalking customers. Steven receives a phone call from the Tate, who tells him he is paying Robin a visit, making Steven rush to Robin's apartment. Finding it empty, Steven calls the police and tells them to hurry to where Tate has taken her: the central satellite dish.
Arriving at the satellite dish first, Steven rescues Robin from the Tate, who, as the police arrive, climbs to the top of the dish proclaiming that he must "kill the babysitter" to prevent others from becoming like him. He falls into the dish and cuts the television signal to the entire city, but survives. He apologizes to Steven for being a bad friend; Steven forgives him and asks for his real name, which he says is Ricky Ricardo. As he is airlifted away, one of the paramedics addresses him as "buddy"; when he asks if that's true and the paramedic confirms it, Ricky smiles deviously, thinking he has found a new "friend".
First-time screenwriter Lou Holtz Jr. conceivedThe Cable Guy while working as aprosecutor in Los Angeles, declaring that he once saw a cable company employee in the hallway of his mother's apartment building and started thinking, "What's he doing here so late?" The screenplay became the subject of a bidding war, won byColumbia Pictures at a price of $750,000, plus a $250,000 additional bonus if the movie got made.[5][6] The role of the Cable Guy was originally sold withChris Farley attached to star, but he later dropped out due to scheduling difficulties.[5]Adam Sandler was also considered.[7]
Jim Carrey received $20 million, then a record amount, to star.[8] Following Carrey's signing, Columbia Pictures hiredJudd Apatow to produce. Columbia rebuffed Apatow's interest in directing, but accepted his suggestion to inviteBen Stiller on whoseBen Stiller Show Apatow had worked.[9][10] Stiller was considered to play the Steven Kovacs character before it was offered toMatthew Broderick.[7]
The original screenplay by Lou Holtz Jr. was a lighter comedy, described by Apatow as "aWhat About Bob? annoying friend movie" where the Cable Guy was a likeable loser who intrudes upon the cable subscriber's life, but never in a physically threatening way. Carrey, Apatow and Stiller liked the setup of "somebody who is really smart with technology invading somebody's life", and opted to addslapstick and darker tones, changing into a satire of thrillers such asCape Fear,Unlawful Entry andThe Hand That Rocks the Cradle. The dialogue would also fit Carrey's style of comedy.[11]
Holtz wrote four additional drafts, each one darker than the previous, before leaving the project and giving Apatow the opportunity to take over the writing.[11] Apatow and Stiller visited Carrey as he was filmingAce Ventura: When Nature Calls inSouth Carolina, and over a few days, riffed a lot of the set pieces that were added to the script, and further explored how Carrey wanted to perform the character.[9] Apatow took the film to theWriters Guild for arbitration to get a writing credit but ultimately Holtz retained sole credit for the script.[10][12] Apatow expressed frustration at not getting credit but acknowledged that as he was also a producer on the film, the Writers Guild requirements are set very high to protect writers.[13]
The final script had elements so disturbing that Columbia heard many complaints regarding certain 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.[11][13]
The fight sequence atMedieval Times between Chip (Jim Carrey) and Steven (Matthew Broderick) is an homage to theStar Trek episode "Amok Time"—including the use of Vulcan weapons (lirpa), the dialogue, and the background music. Director Ben Stiller is an admittedTrekkie.[14]
The Cable Guy grossed $19,806,226 on its opening weekend, ranking number one ahead ofThe Rock.[15] At the time, it had the highest opening weekend for a Ben Stiller film, holding this record until 2000 whenMeet the Parents surpassed it.[16] It grossed a total $60,240,295 in the North American domestic market, and $42,585,501 outside theUnited States, making a total of $102,825,796 worldwide gross, but failed to reach domestic projected numbers Jim Carrey brought to his previous movies. Apatow said "people looked at it as a failure because it didn't make even more money."[13] Despite the critical perception that the movie was a disappointment, it made a profit in excess of its $47 million production budget.[17] The film was released in the United Kingdom on July 12, 1996, and opened on #2, behindMission: Impossible.[18]
The film was released onVHS on December 3, 1996,DVD on September 15, 1997, and a 15th anniversaryBlu-ray release on March 1, 2011.[19] Sony re-issued the latter format as a manufacture-on-demand title on December 17, 2019.[19]
Onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,The Cable Guy holds an approval rating of 56% based on 82 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critical consensus states, "The Cable Guy's dark flashes of thought-provoking, subversive wit are often—but not always—enough to counter its frustratingly uneven storytelling approach."[20] OnMetacritic, the film received aweighted average score of 56 based on 28 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade "C+" on scale of A to F.[22]
The Cable Guy has been regarded as having a darker tone than most of Carrey's previous work.[17] While the character may seem goofy at first, similar to previous Carrey roles, he later turns more sinister and scary.[23] Audiences and film critics had mixed reactions to the change. The film was onJ. Hoberman's Top 10 best of the year.[24]Roger Ebert includedThe Cable Guy in his worst of the year list for 1996,[25] though colleagueGene Siskel disagreed, calling it "a very good film. [Carrey's] best sinceThe Mask".[26] Ebert found Carrey's "bizarre" and "creepy" performance undermined the entire story, and felt the movie was more of a dark comedy than was necessary.Slant Magazine named his role one the "15 Famous Movie Psychopaths".[27]
In spite of its mixed reception, the film has achieved acult following,[9][13] and has been credited for helping Carrey pursue more serious roles such asThe Truman Show andEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Carrey named the movie one of his favorites that he worked on:
I have odd favorites that may not be for kids, butThe Cable Guy is one of my favorite movies. I think Ben Stiller did an amazing job, and it's populated with the greatest comedy actors of our day when they were just coming into their power. I love that character. That character is all of us: we were all raised by the TV.[28]
Stiller callsThe Cable Guy the "most educational and spirit-building" failure of his career. Despite its initial flop, he says, "the making of it was a pure creative experience" thanks to Carrey's boldness: "It was pretty shocking, mainly because I never experienced such a high-profile project not doing well." But the experience taught him invaluable lessons: "You learn that it sometimes goes well and it sometimes doesn't. I have found it [has a life], more so than other movies I made that were more 'successful.'"[29][30]
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Movie Actor | Jim Carrey | Won | [31] |
| MTV Movie Awards | Best Comic Performance | Jim Carrey | Won | [32] |
| Best Villain | Won | |||
| Best Fight | Jim Carrey andMatthew Broderick | Nominated | ||
| Stinkers Bad Movie Awards | Most Painfully Unfunny Comedy | Nominated | [33] |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [34] |
| Los Angeles Times | [35] |
The Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 21, 1996, viaWork Group. It consists of previously unreleased songs, largely ofalternative rock andheavy metal bands, and includes the first solo recording byJerry Cantrell ofAlice in Chains fame. The soundtrack includes Jim Carrey's version ofJefferson Airplane's "Somebody to Love" which was performed by him in the film. It also includes a song from $10,000 Gold Chain, aside project ofPearl Jam lead guitaristMike McCready.White Zombie's "More Human than Human" is featured in a dramatic scene of the film but was not included on the soundtrack release.
Cantrell's "Leave Me Alone" served as the soundtrack's promotional vehicle and was released as a single, peaking at No. 14 onBillboard'sMainstream Rock Tracks chart.[36] It had amusic video that featured various footage fromCable Guy in a dark manner typical of Cantrell's style. It also had Jim Carrey's haunting face reaching out of a television screen observing Cantrell.[37] The music video was included as a bonus feature on the 15th-anniversary editionBlu-ray ofThe Cable Guy in 2011.[38]
While the album as a whole was not well received,Stephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic noted that "Leave Me Alone" positively "rocks as hard as any Alice in Chains track".[34] The track "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" gained popularity for its appearance in the film and reached No. 1 on theBillboardAlternative Songs chart in 1996.[39]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'll Juice You Up" (performed byJim Carrey) | 0:29 | ||
| 2. | "Leave Me Alone" (performed byJerry Cantrell) | Jerry Cantrell | 5:13 | |
| 3. | "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand" (performed byPrimitive Radio Gods) |
| Chris O'Connor | 4:34 |
| 4. | "Blind" (performed bySilverchair) | 4:14 | ||
| 5. | "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (performed by $10,000 Gold Chain) | Lou Reed | Brett Eliason | 6:11 |
| 6. | "End of the World Is Coming" (performed by David Hilder) | David Hilder | Jim Mitchell | 3:09 |
| 7. | "Satellite of Love" (performed byPorno for Pyros) | Reed | Perry Farrell | 3:41 |
| 8. | "Get Outta My Head" (performed byCracker) | 2:04 | ||
| 9. | "Somebody to Love" (performed by Jim Carrey) | Darby Slick | Jim Mitchell | 3:43 |
| 10. | "The Last Assassin" (performed byCypress Hill) | DJ Muggs | 3:49 | |
| 11. | "This Is" (performed byRuby) |
| Mark Walk | 3:54 |
| 12. | "Hey Man Nice Shot" (performed byFilter) | Richard Patrick | 5:20 | |
| 13. | "Unattractive" (performed byToadies) | Vaden Todd Lewis | Paul Leary | 3:51 |
| 14. | "Download" (performed byExpanding Man) |
| Mike Denneen | 4:12 |
| 15. | "This Concludes Our Broadcast Day" (performed byJohn Ottman) | John Ottman | 4:24 | |
| Total length: | 58:48 | |||
sources said he recently decided he didn't want to commit to a film that far in the future and stepped aside
My next big star in a bad movie is Jim Carrey, who got one of the year's biggest paychecks forThe Cable Guy but forgot he became a top box office star by being a likable nut in funny comedies.The Cable Guy was an exercise in hatefulness with Carrey playing a pathological character who seemed not funny but obnoxious and annoying. [...] Jim Carrey has generated a very real comic talent but he can't work with material as negative as it is inThe Cable Guy.
