The Cable Guy (1996)

A lonely and disturbed cable guy raised on television just wants a new friend, but his target, a designer, rejects him, with bad consequences. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Ben Stiller
Written By: Lou Holtz Jr.
Starring: Eric Roberts, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, David Cross, Janeane Garofalo, Owen Wilson, George Segal, Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Andy Dick, Diane Baker, Leslie Mann
Country: USA
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The Cable Guy belongs to 31 collections
1. Black Comedy (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 30 stars)
2. Feel Good Movies (collaborative: moderated by Midaso - 17 stars)
3. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
4. So bad they are good (collaborative: moderated by cagedwisdom - 10 stars)
5. #1 at the US Box Office (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 10 stars)
6. Ambiguously Gay/Lesbian Films (collaborative: moderated by bobyang - 5 stars)
7. Classic CHUD: 100 Movies That Deserve More Love (collaborative: moderated by tinysausage - 5 stars)
8. Top 3000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 5 stars)
9. Movies That Kick Ass! (collaborative: moderated by sean_e_b - 3 stars)
10. Architect (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer - 3 stars)
11. Coheed's Films I Need To See Or Try To Track Down (public: Coheed - 3 stars)
12. Siskel and Ebert Worst (public: donkeyjelly - 3 stars)
13. DtC Doubling the Canon 2022 Nominees (collaborative: moderated by lineuphere - 2 stars)
14. Top 2000 movies with the most votes on IMDb (public: fanfic - 2 stars)
15. Nostalgia Critic: Top 10 Films I Like But Everybody Else Hates (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub - 1 star)
16. Pickpocket inaccurate PSI (public: Pickpocket - 1 star)
17. Available on Starz (public: Jason212 - 1 star)
18. Disappointments (collaborative: moderated by cagedwisdom)
19. Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson (collaborative)
20. John Ottman (composer) (collaborative: moderated by Ag0stoMesmer)
21. 1996 Wide-released movies (collaborative: moderated by Roman_Herbom)
22. Cinemateca - Grandes Géneros: Comédia (collaborative: moderated by pmpfe)
23. Movies I need to finish watching (public: movieboy)
24. 1996: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
25. Owned Films (public: TheSaberfool)
26. favoriler (public: ceseth)
27. Films I saw in the cinema (public: Malcym)
28. Seen, Not Rated (public: SageSledge)
29. Seen, but never ranked (public: gnofs)
30. My DVDs/Blu-Rays (public: andyglover)
31. My ratings (public: tpbradbury)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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TonythePony | 68 49th |
Carrey as a disturbing, socially challenged, yet technically capable stalker was not palatable to the masses expecting his usual rubber faced douchebag routine. Approached with an open mind now reveals a solid performance from Carrey aided by amusing bit parts by Wilson and Stiller, along with Broderick's straight man competence. A script laden with numerous classic TV references and a rather intricate plot (for a comedy) rewards those who chance a second viewing.
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Shmendrek | 3 61st |
Don't really understand the hate, as this is an excellent dark comedy. Easily one of Carrey's best comedic roles.
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FunkyAstro | 85 86th |
I don't think people quite understand how creepy, hilarious and brilliant this movie actually is. You're all wrong! *plugs ears* "LA LA LA LA... Seriously though, this movie was WAY ahead of its time. The scene where Chip predicts, to pinpoint accuracy, how people will use the internet and the fact that this supposed connecting technology is spawning a whole new age of media inspired psychos and disconnected reality only solidifies the fact that Ben Stiller totally called it twenty years ago.
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eveelun | 67 35th |
Not a great film by any stretch, but I appreciate the dark comic angle Stiller was taking. It's very hit or miss, but I'll take it over any of Carrey's other early films where he just gesticulates wildly for an hour and a half.
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Pickpocket | 7 68th |
Kind of a guilty pleasure because it's so over the top ridiculous. It's not a good movie by any means but it's great to watch with a bunch of friends and just laugh at it.
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ozymandius10 | 76 67th |
Critics were far too harsh with this movie. Ben Stiller did a fine job in his directorial debut by giving us plenty of dark with our comedy.
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Alex Watkins | 3 38th |
Almost uncomfortably intense for a comedy. Like the Homer's Enemy episode of The Simpsons, it's basically a horror film about how awful it would be to know a rubber-faced cartoon character in real life.
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Grit | 49 46th |
I thought this was pretty good actually for the mostpart, if you have seen any other Carrey film you should know exactly what to expect. Again, has some very good scenes and some stand-out hilarious moments but can begin to get a little monotonous after a while, possibly due to a patchy script.
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2 | nunstrangler | 57 35th |
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A little darker humor than Carrey fans may be used to, and don't expect any bodily ventriloquism. Carrey (did we mention he's in it?) gets to act with real life people. Director Stiller does a nice job of reining in his more manic impulses when necessary. Broderick holds his own as the reluctant pal. Original scripter Holtz won a Writer's Guild arbitration for sole writing credit from producer-writer Judd Apatow.
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Clark Nova | 100 97th |
I think it's the cat's pajamas.
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SlrSoapbox | 75 59th |
Extremely weird, but still entertaining. The film's relative failure is probably because Jim Carrey was playing a dark and deranged character instead of doing his usual goofy slapstick. His performance is still pretty funny though.
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1 | svicciarelli | 85 50th |
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Panned when it was first released, I actually think this is one of Carrey's best. Dark but funny and well paced.
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djross | 60 62nd |
A long time since I saw this, but my recollection is that it is quite a dark satire on contemporary society that probably suffered commercially due to the admirable decision to fashion such an unpleasant protagonist.
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1 | lifeandall | 40 9th |
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Didn't get this one at all. Maybe I was drowsy, but it seemed rather pointless and boring.
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GravyMaximus | 60 47th |
Not good, but, at times, pretty fucking creepy.
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cagedwisdom | 25 17th |
It's hard to give this a high score. To begin with it's pretty much entirely stale and flat, and it's easily one of Carrey's least inspired films. However, as it evolves it becomes a decently entertaining and interesting story, and it ends with a quite cliche, but still pretty true comment on society. Some great scenes, but pretty average. It's worth watching entirely for the medieval scene, which is absolutely brilliant.
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twincinema | 75 64th |
Of all of Carrey's comedies, this is the one that has stuck with me the most. I am unsure what the says about me. It's a dark comedy that sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, but will have a special place in my heart because nostalgia will come for us all.
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MJVmovieMan | 65 37th |
It's a dark comedy, and it's odd, weird, and very different from Carrey's line-up. But it's also interesting and has its moments, if not a few big laughs. It's not for everyone certainly, and I can say it's not high on my list at all, but it's definitely worth checking out once - even if Matthew Broderick often gives me the sensation of having tiny needles placed along my spinal column.
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martryn | 58 25th |
While I hated this film initially, this is slowly becoming a cult classic for me. It's still not a very good movie, but it's better than I initially gave it credit for, so if you're also on the fence after one viewing, you might wait a few months and watch it again.
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Spunkie | 65 76th |
I love the undercurrent of this story. While it plays for situation comedy most of the time, the obsessive character meshes with Carrey's own persona to create an eerie effect. This one time Stiller brings some meal to the table.
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amerigo | 87 91st |
This is a true staple film of postmodernism and probably Carrey's best performance. It manages to be a brilliant collection of pop culture references distilled into a bizarrely ironic "real slasher" flick. A refreshingly unique film. I only wish that much like the Matrix referenced Derrida, the book that Gass opens during the cable outage was Delillo's White Noise.
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1 | Matthias99 | 90 66th |
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A funny movie... Jim Carrey is great as the demented cable guy, and Matthew Broderick makes a pretty good straight man.
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fyngyrz | 9 62nd |
Underrated. Carey is a genius.
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Biedronski | 80 72nd |
Underated. I didn't appreciate it as much as a kid cause it wasn't the colorful wacky Jim Carrey I loved, but now I appreciate it much more. Some of the parts in this movie are so bizarre and hilarious.
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paulofilmo | 69 47th |
Hard to conjure up many other characters that juggle omniscience with subservience so deviously; pitifully.
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Neonman | 63 21st |
I can't believe Jim Carey was paid a record $25 million to ruin this otherwise amusing satire on television. The humour is more understated, but Carey's overdone antics don't gel at all, distracting this film from keeping thematic focus by introducing Carey's "slapstick comedy" moments (basketball game, jousting, karaoke- all an unfunny waste of time). Carey is downright embarrassing to watch and truly reduces what could've been an otherwise entertaining and amusing satire.
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Hadleyreis | 52 28th |
Jim Carrey showing us his range in this film
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ABUNCHOFCATS | 74 35th |
Fun dark comedy that doesn't deserve the rap it gets.
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1 | Rampage101 | 60 7th |
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Definitely a low point in Jim Carey's career, this movie is more annoying than funny.
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JordanDcFc | 60 22nd |
I guess it was pretty funny, well Carrey was anyway. Other than his performance this film is very weak, the script was lacking as was the supporting cast. It dragged on a lot in between the funniest scenes and I found myself bored a few times too. Overall, it was pretty funny occasionally but not often enough.
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SirStuckey | 80 78th |
Terribly under appreciated film. I understand why people don't really like it, but I think it's been judged more based on Jim Carrey trying to branch out in styles than as a film itself. People wanted the Jim Carrey from The Mask, Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber instead of the creepy and dark Carrey they got. I'm not saying this movie was flawless (in fact Broderick is very flawed), but it's not nearly as bad as people have said.
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Okkervil | 70 67th |
Darkly comic and at times very funny. Much of the average film making on display is lifted by Carrey's quality performance.
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Dunder74 | 7 68th |
One of the most under-appreciated comedies of all time.
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1 | CM1405 | 50 2nd |
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Decent story added to by carreys performance, one of the under-rated jim carrey movies
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1 | pieterpronk | 64 23rd |
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Somehow the darker side of the cable guy seems to hamper Carrey's style. Adding only a more boring tone to his character. What he did manage however is to make "cable guy" something you could really use to describe a "friend" you didn't want to have.
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b3nnic3 | 100 77th |
Good movie that only truly pure people will understand.
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tinysausage | 64 22nd |
Pretty dark for a mainstream comedy.
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1 | giturra | 75 30th |
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dark twisted comedy, that has some really funny bits and also a very disturbing story at its center. A flop at the time it has won deservedly a cult status afterwards. one of carrey`s best.
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Talvitie | 61 31st |
This is not so bad but at the end the movie little bit gets out of the hand.
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xmulderx | 40 38th |
I liked this when I was a kid... but only because my parents hid it from me, i found it and watched it when they were in bed. Don't even remember the plot.
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1 | doughbaron | 64 33rd |
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It took me a really long time to recognize that there are a lot of great comedic moments in this movie, but I doubt I can ever ignore the fact that the third act is simply awful. Everything would have worked much better by leaving Chip as a sympathetic character, but placating the lowest common denominator by creating a clear villain ruined an otherwise enjoyable film.
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dunbar | 60 25th |
The two common camps for this movie seem to be "too dark for Carrey, I didn't like it" and "a nice change of pace for Carrey, I liked it". I feel like there's a third category and I'm right smack in the middle of it, the little known "it's sort of black comedy for Carrey so that's kind of cool, kind of refreshing, but the script is also dumb as shit in many places, so why ask a guy famous for being a rubber-faced goofball to tone it down a bit when you haven't got the script to match?" camp.
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hellboy76 | 70 79th |
I actually was impressed with this a true "dark comedy". Carrey goes from funny to frightening in the blink of an eye and it's actually pretty impressive. The script has some flaws but all in all one of Carrey's more entertaining movies.
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PerryStroika | 59 36th |
Intriguing premise but flawed delivery.
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TheLastBaron | 50 37th |
Used to be a huge Jim Carrey fan back in the day. I...guess I don't have more to say than that.
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CMonster | 69 45th |
This is definitely bizarre and not a particularly well made film. But it does have something about it that was quite enjoyable, for me anyways. It was definitely better, at least comedicly, than people give it credit for. Dark and creepy made this movie, if it had been the silly version of Carrey we are used to, it would have fallen apart.
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GreatScott85 | 72 27th |
Daring and highly polarizing, there are certainly laughs to be found if you can withstand the awkwardness and uncomfortable tension between these characters.
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SheWas | 51 46th |
CULT
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Leonardis | 83 43rd |
I... actually kinda dug this. The Cable Guy may feel slightly clichéd and a little slow, but I thought Carry was pretty slick in this strange, unusual turn for his career and I loved thst about it. Definitwly not for everyone, but I found it enjoyable!
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jnsoneji | 100 97th |
The horror of cable guys portrayed by Jim Carrey; very funny
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1 | Alex WS | 86 92nd |
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Comedy with a great atmosphere and decent social commentary.
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HobbitNinja | 85 43rd |
Sorely underrated film. The comedy is dry, dark, and brilliant. Great job by director Ben Stiller, and Jim Carey is unforgettable.
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Groovy_Souls | 75 64th |
Call this a bit of a guilty pleasure. This is a dark comedy not worthy of the hate it gets. Ben Stiller's direction and cinematography are pure bliss. Paired with Jim Carrey's stunningly psychotic performance, the rest of the movie is brought down. An alright movie with fantastic parts; a dark comedy that is great but not on the level of other cult classics, like Fargo.
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Yiannos | 65 59th |
Carrey took a real risk playing such an unlikeable character at peak fame, which gave him the opportunity to tap into the darker undercurrents of his manic screen persona, fashioning an unusually aggressive but strangely sympathetic black comic turn as a lonely man whose tenuous grasp on reality was formed by parental neglect and media overload. While mass media critiques were common in the 90's, this stands out because the critique was snuck through the backdoor, and Carrey really goes for it.
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Average Percentile 33.19% from 7868 Ratings | ![]() |