Edtv

source: Edtv

Moviecut—Edtv

Edtv

Ed is a happy go lucky video store assistant going nowhere fast who finds himself attracted to his brothers girlfriend. So far so what? But this just happens to be occurring at the same time that his every waking minute is being broadcast live to the nation on the new reality show Edtv! Directed by Ron Howard Edtv is a first class film inspired by the French Canadian movie 'Louis 19, Le Roi Des Ondes'. Released shortly after The Truman Show its the superior if unfairly less well received of the two Hollywood reality TV themed movies. It did come up against heavy comparisons but is quite a different & better film. Whereas Truman was totally unaware that he was in a TV show Ed activity volunteers for the job. Such is the currency of celebrity in the modern media age. Who are you if you haven't been on TV? The world of celebrity is the one we inhabit in the early 21st century. They are used to try to convince us what to wear, what to eat, what to drink & even who to vote for! We are truly living in a celebrity culture, with shows such as Big Brother & Survivor promoting the seemingly unstoppable desire by members of the public to become famous simply for being famous! Ed, slightly reluctant at first soon becomes seduced by this idea, an idea which turns sour. Ron Howards movie does have a lot to say about the issues of celebrity & reality TV, but at its heart is a great romantic comedy which has more of an edge to it than is expected from the one time star of Happy Days. The pairing of Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson is inspired, they are great together sparking off one another. Natural comedic actors you believe they are brothers. Dennis Hopper puts in a good cameo & Jenny Elfman is totally convincing as the female romantic lead. You really care about the plight of the characters & the rest of the cast are also on top form. From Rob Reiners small role as a TV executive to the excellent Martin Landau as Eds father. He is one of the best character actors of recent years making truly varied & believable performance in films as diverse as Crimes & Misdemeanors, Ed Wood & Rounders. Add Edtv to the list - his performance is comedy gold! The great acting would of course all be in vain if it weren't coupled with a good script. Thankfully Edtv has one. All the predictable hallmarks of a romantic comedy are here but with a sharper wit & of course the reality show structure which brings a new dimension to the genre. Add to this Howards direction using all the tricks, styles & conventions of reality TV. Sometimes you are watching the cameramens POV, sometimes Eds exploits are conveyed on a TV screen complete with advertising, at other times you are presented with multiple viewpoints of the same scene. These constant variations in style keep the film fresh & interesting & are further enhanced by the audience reactions throughout the film & the TV led critique & discussions about the merits or otherwise of the phenomenon that is Edtv. Together the acting, directing & script really convince that Edtv is viable & could exist! Overall this is a funny, well directed romantic comedy from Ron Howard. Great performances abound from all concerned. There is a deeper level to the film which isn't hammered home or done in a heavy handed way but is there none the less among the laughs. But just how long will it be before Edtv becomes a reality?

Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey) is an everyday guy with a loser video clerk job. TV producer Cynthia Topping (Ellen DeGeneres) wants to do a 24/7 reality show for a failing cable network. They choose to do the show with Ed. His brother Ray (Woody Harrelson) is a bit of a douche. Ray breaks his girlfriend Shari's (Jenna Elfman) heart, and she falls for Ed. If there isn't the gimmick of a TV show, this would be a simple rom-com between McConaughey and Elfman. However, the movie is too simplistic about what a camera following somebody all the time would actually mean. This feels like a Hollywood movie of a Hollywood TV show of a Hollywood reality. Director Ron Howard doesn't actually do edgy that well. It's definitely not his forte. And this movie needs to get down and dirty, but Howard's light touch fails him here. After an interesting start, it quickly gets boring. It's a speed bump in an otherwise great directing career. The sad thing is that it's so obvious that Howard is not up to this job.

If you are a fan of reality shows, then you will like this film about a normal everyday guy filmed 24-7, except this time he actually knows about it. Ron Howard directs Matthew McConaughey as Ed 'Eddie' Pekurny, he is the chosen guy for a new reality show to boost a TV channel's ratings. Edtv does start small, but after a week or so he is the biggest star of TV that is only famous for being him. In his life on TV he is involved with Jenna Elfman as Shari, Woody Harrelson as his brother Ray Pekurny, Sally Kirkland as Jeanette, Oscar winner Martin Landau as Al and many others. Also starring director Rob Reiner as Mr. Whitaker, a brief Dennis Hopper as Henry 'Hank' Pekurny, Ed's Dad, Elizabeth Hurley as Jill, Harry Shearer as Moderator, Michael Moore and Jay Leno. It is a good film which shows the highs and lows of reality TV, but no way as good as The Truman Show. Good!

With any comedy there is also a realm of truth and seriousness. The point of this film which I think the first reviewer missed, is that it is telling us something about the reality TV craze that has swept our country. Even after the horror of 9/11 which came after this film, we soon went back to the craze of reality TV shows where so called non actors who are real people are paid to be on TV whether it is the Bachelor or Survivor, they are often sleep deprived to be more emotional and make whatever happens on camera more intense. So how real is real when it is this contrived? In this film Edtv I see the insanity and ugliness of the producers wonderfully portrayed by Rob Reiner and Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen eventually so sickened by what the show is doing to Ed's (Matthew MaConaughey's) life that she helps him to get out of the live TV broadcast by blacking mailing Rob Reiner's character with some highly personal information. While the film is funny and entertaining, it also, if we are pay attention tells us that this need to be voyeurs into the so called private and real lives of each other is dangerous and even contrived to the point of ruthless by the producers who use Ed and anyone he dates and his family for their own success. Family secrets and mistakes are revealed on television in this film, in glaring ways that break up Ed's mother and step dad and he loses his new girlfriend thanks to his life being public. Gee, much like reality TV today! Yes, one can argue that the non actors real people who sign up should know better and whatever they get, they deserve. Maybe we should also know better than to be a nation that peeps through key holes. This film is relevant and well acted by everyone in it.

I wasn't expecting much of this when I went to see it, but I totally loved it. Its misleading to try to compare it with the Truman Show. There's a superficial similarity in their basic concept, but otherwise they are completely different (and I loved Truman - still can't understand what the Academy thought it was doing). There was not one dull moment, and at times I though I would pee myself laughing (and it takes a lot for me to say that to a world wide audience!) I don't remember laughing so much at the cinema since Speed 2 - but this time for the right reasons. So it was funny, but there were also genuinely moving sad bits. Martin Landau absolutely stole the film with some killer one-liners, but all the performances were fantastic (even Liz Hurley didn't make me cringe, as she poked fun at her own reputation) Ellen is great, as is Woody Harrelson (who looks uncannily like his on-screen brother) and I always love Adam Goldberg. Matt McConaughey is perfect, whether he's being a jerk or doing the right thing (oh OK, and damn cute with it.) The whole thing is probably enhanced by being so utterly believable, and ends with a great anti-corporate finger (literally, in fact, now I think about it)

When EDTV was released in 1999 we didn't have much in the way of reality television , attempts had been tried like THE LIVING SOAP from the mid 1990s which did not catch on and it wasn't until the Dutch produced BIG BROTHER in 1999 that the reality show exploded and since then we've had too many of these type of programmes and hopefully the latest one from Channel 4 that has flopped - SPACE CADETS - will be the final nail in the coffin for this wasted and painfully over used format The main interest in watching EDTV in 2005 is wondering how accurate and prophetic it might have been with hindsight . Did they get it right ? In my humble opinion - No . And if it's trying to be a satire I found it lacking , I mean there's not enough biting cynicism involved ( Though with Ron Howard as director what do you expect ? ) , maybe the producers should have viewed WAG THE DOG to see how it's done Perhaps I should ask how many people praising this film have seen the classic teleplay - No make that " Yet another classic teleplay " - from Nigel Kneale THE YEAR OF THE SEXUAL OLYMPICS where a TV audience watch a TV reality show where contestants are being murdered , a sort of BIG BROTHER mixed in with Agatha Christie . It's when you compare these two that you find this box office friendly Hollywood offering is rather lacking

I thought this was a really funny film with some pricelines lines especially from Martin Landau. It's quite a believable story infact it's surprising it hasn't been done for real. Consistantly good director Ron Howard keeps the pace flowing from beginning to end. It seems to be impossible to not mention 'you know what' when talking about this film so I won't, but it's the reason why I've only just seen this which is a shame as I've been missing a thoroughly good piece of entertainment! (8/10)