The Cable Guy (1996)

The Cable Guy is a 1996 black comedy film, directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. The film also features Leslie Mann, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. It was released in North America on Friday, June 14, 1996 by Columbia Pictures.

A TV-obsessed cable installer, who gives his name as Ernie "Chip" Douglas (Jim Carrey), installs Steven Kovacs' (Matthew Broderick) cable television service after Steven moves out of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend Robin (Leslie Mann). After he illegally gives Steven free pay channels, Chip believes he and Steven have struck up a friendship. Chip takes Steven to a satellite dish and gives him advice about how to win back Robin. Chip tells Steven to invite Robin to his house to watch a movie with him. Steven does so and successfully invites Robin to his house. Chip begins to bombard Steven with calls but Steven does not respond to them. When Robin goes to Steven's house to watch the movie they find the cable has gone out. Chip reveals that he turned off the cable because Steven wasn't answering him. Chip turns on Steven's cable in exchange for him and Steven to hang out the next night.

Chip takes Steven to a Medieval Times restaurant and show where he arranges a fight between him and Steven. Chip appears to fight much more brutally than Steven. Steven however wins and the friendship between them strengthens. When they return home Steven finds that Chip has installed a full entertainment system into his house. Chip arranges a Karaoke party at Stevens' house. During the party Steven has sex with a woman named Heather whom he believes is one of Chip's customers; however, he finds out the next morning that the woman is actually a prostitute that Chip hired. Angered, Steven expels Chip from his life. Chip tries to make it up to Steven by getting Robin back with him. Chip beats up Robin's date (Owen Wilson) and is able to convince her to return to Steven. Chip tells Steven of what he has done but Steven tells Chip that he has no room in his life for another friend causing the latter man to snap. Chip resorts to stalking Steven and Robin to get the attention he feels he deserves.

First, Chip has the police arrest Steven at work for having possession of the stolen entertainment system, but Steven gets out on bail. The aftermath of this incident prompts Steven's close friend Rick (Jack Black), who has had a deep suspicion of Chip from the beginning, to look into Chip's background. Chip later threatens to blackmail Steven by showing Robin a picture he took of Steven with the prostitute while having dinner at Steven's parents house, but fails after Steven punches Chip in the face in front of everyone else in the house after Chip hints quietly in Steven's ear via playing a game called "Porno Password" that he has slept with Robin while he actually hasn't. The next day, Chip leaks a video of Steven with Robin with him insulting his boss to all of the computers at his office. Steven ends up getting fired as a result. After returning home, Rick calls Steven and tells him he found evidence of Chip's past. Rick says that Chip uses aliases from TV shows such as Bewitched and My Three Sons to conceal his identity and has been previously fired from the cable company for stalking his customers. Rick insists that Steven should lock himself up in his house to avoid Chip at all costs. That night, Steven gets another phone call from Chip, who says he is going 'out' with Robin, but does not mention where.

Chip takes Robin up to the massive TV satellite transmitter where he often "hangs out," taking her hostage with a staple gun. Steven hears about Chip's whereabouts from Robin's neighbor. He drives up to the satellite and brawls with Chip, with Chip eventually getting the better of him. Chip then becomes remorseful, lamenting his inability to be a good friend to Steven. Chip then reveals that he was neglected by his mother as a child and that he was "raised" by television. While the much-publicized trial of an accused murderer and former child star (played by director Ben Stiller) is about to come to a conclusion, Chip ends up diving off part of the satellite's massive antenna and lands heavily on a smaller spire which is responsible for sending the signal to the nation's television sets, causing everybody's TV to blackout just before the trial's verdict is announced. Chip survives his fall, possibly damaging and injuring his back, and he calms down, separated from Steven and Robin. Soon after, Chip is carried away to a medical helicopter; before he boards, Chip apologizes to Steven for all that he has done to him. Steven forgives him and asks him what his real name is, to which Chip jokingly responds "Ricky Ricardo". As he is air-lifted to a hospital, a paramedic comforts him; Chip sees the paramedic as his new friend, and as the credits are about to roll, he flashes the camera a devious smile. This entire last scene is a parody of a very similar scene in the 1991 film Ricochet.

Download The Cable Guy (1996) :