The Cable Guy is a 1996 American black comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, written by Lou Holtz Jr. and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick.
It was released in the United States on June 14, 1996. The film co-stars Leslie Mann, Jack Black, George Segal, Diane Baker, Eric Roberts, Owen Wilson, Janeane Garofalo, David Cross, Andy Dick, Stiller, and Bob Odenkirk.
In the film, Carrey plays an eccentric cable installer who becomes overly intrusive in the life of a customer, played by Broderick.
The film was a box office success, though not to the extent of many of Carrey‘s previous films. It received mixed reception from critics, but has since attained a cult following.
The Cable Guy: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on May 21, 1996 via Work Group.
It consists of previously unreleased songs, largely of alternative rock and heavy metal bands, and includes the first solo recording by Jerry Cantrell Leave Me Alone.
The soundtrack includes Jim Carrey’s version of Jefferson Airplane’s Somebody to Love which was performed by him in the film.
It also includes a song from $10,000 Gold Chain, a side project of Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready. White Zombie’s “More Human than Human” is featured in a dramatic scene of the film but was not included on the soundtrack release.
Cantrell‘s Leave Me Alone served as the soundtrack’s promotional vehicle and was released as a single, peaking at No. 14 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It had a music video that featured various footage from Cable Guy in a dark manner typical of Cantrell‘s style.
It also had Jim Carrey‘s haunting face reaching out of a television screen observing Cantrell. The music video was included as a bonus feature on the 15th-anniversary edition Blu-ray of The Cable Guy in 2011.
The track Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand gained popularity for its appearance in the film and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in 1996.
Tracklist:
- Jim Carrey: (I’ll Juice You Up)
- Jerry Cantrell: (Leave Me Alone)
- Primitive Radio Gods: (Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand)
- Silverchair: (Blind)
- $10,000 Gold Chain: (Oh! Sweet Nuthin’)
- David Hilder: (End Of The World Is Coming)
- Porno For Pyros: (Satellite Of Love)
- Cracker: (Get Outta My Head )
- Jim Carrey: (Somebody To Love)
- Cypress Hill: (The Last Assassin)
- Ruby: (This Is)
- Filter: (Hey Man, Nice Shot)
- Toadies: (Unattractive)
- Expanding Man: (Download)
- Jim Carrey: (This Concludes Our Broadcast Day)
- John Ottman: (This Concludes Our Broadcast Day)
