The Cable Guy is a 1996 American comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who also co-stars in the film. The film stars Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. It is notable for being Judd Apatow's first work as a feature film producer.
Plot[]
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
After a failed marriage proposal to his girlfriend Robin Harris, Steven M. Kovacs moves into his own apartment. Taking advice from his friend Rick, Steven bribes cable guy, Ernie "Chip" Douglas, to give him free movie channels, which he does. Chip gets Steven to hang out with him the next day and makes him one of his "preferred customers."
Chip takes Steven to the satellite dish responsible for sending out television signals. Steven tells his problems with Robin to Chip, who advises him to admit his faults to Robin and invite her over to watch Sleepless in Seattle. Steven takes Chip's advice, and Robin agrees to watch the movie with him.
Chip begins acting more suspiciously, running into Steven and his friends at the gym and leaving several messages on Steven's answering machine. When Robin arrives to watch the movie, the cable is out, due to Chip, who intentionally sabotaged Steven's cable. Chip fixes the cable under the condition that they hang out again, to which Steven agrees.
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.
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 and with Chip's help, Steven sleeps with Heather, who later Chip reveals is a prostitute and Steven throws Chip out.
Chip tracks down Robin, who is on a date with another man. When the man goes to the bathroom, Chip severely beats him and tells him to stay away from Robin. He later upgrades Robin's cable, saying that it is on Steven and Robin decides to get back together as a result.
Steven tells Chip that they cannot be friends (which hurts Chip) which sets Chip on a series of vengeful acts. He gets Steven arrested for possession of stolen property, although Steven is released on bail.
During a dinner with his family and Robin, Steven is horrified to see Chip in attendance. Steven tells him to leave, but Chip tells him to play along or he will show everyone a picture of Steven with the prostitute.
The evening goes from bad to worse with Steven punching Chip after the latter implies he slept with Robin. Steven is fired from his job when Chip sends out a video of Steven insulting his boss that was recorded on a hidden camera in his apartment.
After doing some investigating, Rick 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 is 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 is able to save Robin. As the police arrive, Chip goes into a speech on how he was raised by television and apologizes to Steven for being a bad friend.
Chip dives into the satellite dish, knocking out the television signal to the entire town, just as the verdict in a highly publicized case involving a case like the "Lyle and Erik Menendez" killing is about to be revealed. 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 "Yeah, sure you are", causing Chip to smile deviously.
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
- Owen Wilson as Robin's date
- Charles Napier as a police officer
- Janeane Garofalo as Medieval Times waitress
- David Cross as the sales manager
- Andy Dick as Medieval Times host
- Harry O'Reilly as Hal, Steven's boss
- Amy Stiller as Steven's secretary
- Bob Odenkirk as a 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 in 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. The role of the "Cable Guy" was originally written for Chris Farley, who turned it down due to scheduling difficulties. Jim Carrey joined the production, receiving a then-record $20 million to star.
Following Carrey's signing, Columbia hired Judd Apatow to produce. The studio denied Apatow's interest in directing, but accepted his suggestion to invite Ben Stiller, star of his eponymous show on which Apatow had worked.
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.
Carrey, 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 and Apatow took over the writing. Apatow and Stiller visited Carrey as he was filming Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls in South Carolina & over a few days, riffed a lot of the setpieces that were added to the script, and how Carrey wanted to perform this character.
The final script 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.
The fight sequence at Medieval Times between Chip (Jim Carrey) and Steven (Matthew Broderick) is a homage to the Star Trek 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.
Box Office[]
"The Cable Guy" grossed $19,806,226 on its opening weekend. It grossed a total $60,240,295 in the North American domestic market & $42,585,501 outside the U.S, making a total of $102,825,796 worldwide gross, but it failed to reach domestic projected numbers Jim Carey brings to most movies.
Despite the critic perception that the movie was a flop, it made a profit in excess of its $47 million production budget. Though most movies are based on domestic box office sales.
Jim Carrey's $20-million dollar salary raises the budget to $67 million, plus the huge advertising campaign places the profit to slim to negative numbers. It has gained cult-like status among movie-goers.
Critical Reception[]
"The Cable Guy" is regarded as having a darker tone than most of Jim 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, calling it "a very good film. (Carrey's) best since The Mask".
The film was also noted for its similarities to the 1979 Australian telemovie The Plumber, which was written and directed by Peter Weir, who would later direct Carrey in The Truman Show.
Accolades[]
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)
Trailer[]
Trailer The Cable Guy (Ben Stiller, 1996)