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.

Release Year: 1996

Rating: 5.9/10 (67,192 voted)

Director: Ben Stiller

Stars: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann

Storyline
Steven Kovak has been kicked out of his apartment by his girlfriend. Steven has a new apartment, and decides to slip the cable guy (Chip) $50 for free cable. Steven then fakes an interest in Chip's line of work. However Chip takes this to heart trying to become Steven's best bud. When Steven no longer wants to be Chips friend the man who can do it all goes on an all out assault to ruin Steven's life. In the backdrop is the delicate sub-plot of the trial of a former kid star for murdering his brother.

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

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

Release Date: 14 June 1996

Filming Locations: Buena Park, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $47,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $19,806,226 (USA) (16 June 1996) (2657 Screens)

Gross: $100,700,000 (Worldwide)

Runtime: 96 min

Trivia:
Several scenes appear in the trailer that do not appear in the film. Among these scenes are: Steven and Robin leaving his parent's house after hitting Chip with Robin looking upset and Steven telling her that Chip leaves him messages night and day and never leaves him alone. Chip walking up to Steven during the evening at his parent's and telling him to not mess with him. Another shot of Chip through the eye hole in the door after knocking excessively and yelling "Cable Guy!". Additional footage of Chip calling through the telephone wires trying to call Steven. Chip holding two beans in his upper lip to make it look like a mustache. Chip and someone else popping up from behind a couch and surprising Steven. And a very brief slow motion shot of Steven staring at something off-camera with an uncomfortable face during dinner (presumably Chip).

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: During the basketball game at the gym, after Chip shatters the backboard, he falls down into the glass on the floor. However you can clearly see an outline within the shattered glass, where he should land.

Quotes:
Steven Kovacs: Don't be mad. Can't you get somebody else?
Rick: Sure. Maybe I'll take MY cable guy.

Sorely underrated, and a personal favourite.

Rating: 8/10

This review is not coming from someone whose top ten films consist primarily of Farrelly Bros. films, nor do I have a particular liking for anyone involved in the film.

First of all, hats off to Jim Carrey. I read under the trivia section that his role wasn't originally intended for him, but be honest; can you see anyone else playing the cable guy? He was brilliant. He takes the film from what would have been a run-of-the-mill comedy, to levels of greatness, and anyone that thinks I'm being too kind either doesn't like Carrey (it was the film that made me do a complete turn around), or needs to see the film again.

The overall tone of the film is a bit of a mix, it gets darker as the story goes along, but the jokes never mollify. I mean, it's a stalker story with clever film and television references... It's really hard to pin down the identity of this film.

This ranks as Stiller's best directorial performance to date. Reality Bites and Zoolander are good, but not great. This film expresses a lot more of his prowess. I see him as a very capable film maker, he is just yet to make his mark with something more widely appreciated.

The Cable Guy is by no means a classic film, and admittedly, you wont see it on any AFI lists anytime soon, but there is no denying the quality effort that was put into this film by all of it's contributors. And there are many of them -- check out all of those cameos! Chip Douglas' (Carrey) contrived relationship with his customer Steven (Broderick) ranks as one of the most memorable in recent history. It has set a precedent in black comedies that has scarcely been touched since.

I would have seen this film at least 30 times by now and it still seems fresh, and this has lead me to believe that the film probably needs to be viewed more than once for it to completely appreciated. I only wish that there were more people out there that 'get' this gem.

This concludes our broadcast day. Click.

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