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:

Friend | Cable Guy | Television | Head In Toilet | Psychopath

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

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 | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | 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:

Factual errors: At the end of the movie, the satellite fills with rain water. Satellite dishes have a hole in the center to prevent this from happening.

Quotes:

Medieval Times host: Quickly, muster atop your steed. Buddy, get on the friggin' horse. I don't think he's kidding.

Movie Connections:

References "Spider-Man" (1967)

Soundtrack:

American Woman

I liked it

Some people really hated the movie. I saw it, I'll note I saw it on video and frankly I loved it. I think this was the start of Carrey really coming out although it has a couple of crude jokes I could have done without. You really feel for Broderick who starts out having a slightly annoying friend and ends up dealing with a stalker! Somehow the stalker goes from being exceedingly annoying to outsiders gaining acceptance from everybody around his victim. He casts a spell having his victim believe that he is in danger of losing everything if he does not co-operate with his tomentor. Anyway, if you like a bit of light dark comedy and order a pizza, I think the movie is worth a watch.