The Cable Guy

1996
PG-13
1h 36m

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

181K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:35

Dark Comedy Psychological Thriller Satire Tragedy Comedy Drama Thriller

A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

181K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,810

245

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 2 nominations

Videos3

The Cable Guy: Kick In The Face

Photos85

More like this

6.6

Me, Myself & Irene

6.4

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

6.9

Liar Liar

6.9

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

7.3

Dumb and Dumber

6.8

Bruce Almighty

6.2

Fun with Dick and Jane

7.0

6.8

5.6

7.4

7.1

There's Something About Mary

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
While filming of the scene in which The Cable Guy plays basketball, it became obvious that Jim Carrey could barely dribble a basketball, nevermind make a basket. Ben Stiller had Carrey mime the action without a ball, and VFX added the basketball in post-production.

Goofs
"The odds that Steven would have been in jail (the prison scene) for "receiving stolen property" are slim to none, and after an interview Steven would have likely been cited at the police station and given a court date. Some states have a separate but similar charge called "possessing stolen property" or "possession of stolen property." The distinguishing factor here is when the accused learned the goods were stolen. If he knew at the time he acquired the property, then it is receipt of stolen property. It is possession of stolen property if he only learned the property was stolen after he obtained it. All Steven had to do was tell the police who Chip Douglas really was, and Steven would have been sent home and it would have been The Cable Guy who would have been arrested." ... but the Police Officers and Guards seen in these scenes are all "Preferred Customers" and they clearly went outside the law to lock up Steven at the request of Chip. Since this is still a comedy film, the suspension of disbelief is held when it is acknowledged at least twice in these scenes that Chip is manipulating the authorities with his connections via long-time cable hook-ups; and we'd seen the arresting cop at the karaoke party earlier in the film, too.

Quotes
Chip Douglas: The future is now! Soon every American home will integrate their television, phone and computer. You'll be able to visit the Louvre on one channel, or watch female wrestling on another. You can do your shopping at home, or play Mortal Kombat with a friend from Vietnam. There's no end to the possibilities!

Crazy credits
The Columbia logo at the beginning of the movie segues into static from Steven's cable TV.

Alternate versions
In order to qualify for a 12 certificate, the UK releases (prior to its July '17 Blu-ray release) were ordered by the BBFC to cut 4 seconds by removing some imitable violence. The cut occurs when Steven and The Cable Guy are fighting on top of the TV satellite, towards the ending. A shot of Guy headbutting Steven, as well as a brief ear-clap, has been omitted.

Connections
Edited into Jim Carrey: Somebody to Love (1996)

Soundtracks
My Three Sons Theme
Written by Frank De Vol
Courtesy of Dot Records

User reviews449

Review

Featured review

8/10

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