Product Details

• Actors: Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Sally Kirkland, Martin Landau
• Directors: Ron Howard
• Writers: Babaloo Mandel, Lowell Ganz, Sylvie Bouchard, Émile Gaudreault
• Producers: Aldric La'auli Porter, Brian Grazer, Jeffrey T. Barabe
• Format: PAL
• Language: German
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Run Time: 122 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004TYSR

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The third entry of 1998-99's cinematic TV trilogy kind of got lost in the shuffle following The Truman Show, an art film masquerading as a blockbuster, and Pleasantville, a heartfelt feel-good movie masquerading as a special-effects extravaganza. EDtv is nothing more than it appears: a scruffy comedy about fame and its discontents. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ed, a white-trash rube who gets his own dawn-to-midnight TV series in which every aspect of his life, no matter how sordid or dull or embarrassing, becomes mass entertainment (it inverts Truman by having the protagonist invite the pervasive cameras). Predictably, fame makes him miserable and, unsurprisingly, he finds a way out of his predicament. Albert Brooks covered this same territory in the funnier Real Life, and it's probably not the best idea for a load of comfy celebs to preach to us about how difficult fame is. But the film is cannily cast, including a number of performers who themselves have fallen victim to stupid media tricks (McConaughey, Ellen DeGeneres as the network executive, Elizabeth Hurley as a vamp hitching her star to Ed's, and Woody Harrelson as Ed's even dumber brother). Structurally, the movie is a mess. It looks as if the filmmakers had the choice between making a fully realized, two-and-a-half-hour-long movie that no one would sit through or one that clocks in under two hours but has a lot of plot holes; they opted for the latter (Hurley's character disappears, practically without comment). Still, there are enough laughs to keep things moving, and as a shaggy dog tale it's decent fun. --David Kronke

From The New Yorker

At a slipping cable channel, two rancidly intelligent executives (Rob Reiner and Ellen DeGeneres) hold a contest, choose an appealing but ordinary guy-one Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey), a video-store clerk in San Francisco-and put him on the air, live, twenty-four hours a day. The whole world watches and gets involved in Ed's life, which quickly resembles a soap opera. On the surface, this rambunctious comedy, which was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and directed by Ron Howard, is a satire of media ruthlessness and the public's hunger for instant fame. But it's so broadly conceived that it never achieves any distance from its subject. How can you put down the crass public and "expose" cynical TV executives when you're making a crude, populist, cynical movie? With Woody Harrelson as Ed's jerky older brother, Jenna Elfman as his girlfriend, Sally Kirkland and Martin Landau as his mother and stepfather, and a slinky, overheated Elizabeth Hurley as a model who throws herself at Ed. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE STORY OF A NOBODY EVERYBODY IS WATCHING!, May 18, 2001

By 

John Dagley "[e-mail]" (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: EdTV (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Ed is an average, easy going sort of bloke who owns a local video store. Never one to go searching for the public's attention. That is until well-known television station True-TV has a slide in the ratings and need something new to keep their network Number 1.

Their solution is to broadcast one persons day to day life LIVE. Ed's brother Ray decides to audition, but the network like Ed better. At first Ed thinks maybe he shouldn't get involved in such public scrutiny, until his brother talks him into it.

After a slow, embarassing start to live television, Ed soon begins to enjoy the fame. He gets everything he ever wanted. Until his family and friends begin to regret their time in the spotlight, after some uncomfortable truths are learnt. Suddenly, Ed must decide which is more important, instant fame or a right to one's privacy?

Acclaimed director Ron Howard (Ransom, Apollo 13) explores the realities of instant fame, and all of the repercussions. A perfect choice of topic considering he has been in the public eye his entire life.

I love this movie. It is very funny, very truthful, and worth more then one viewing. It brings up some interesting issues, and has some clever story points. A one point I'm sure I knew every line in this movie! It's pretty sad, but it means the lines are pretty easy to learn.

If you thought you'd seen it all before in 'The Truman Show', think again! This movie is much funnier. A much better movie in all respects. Never boring. No offense to Truman fans. I've seen both.

The cast may not appeal to everyone, but they are all wonderful in their roles. The ending may also not appeal to others. I didn't like it to begin with, but I have since changed my mind.

This movie is great. The Collector's Edition makes it even better! With commentary, I find Ron always very easy to listen to. All extra features outtakes, deleated scenes and more are wonderful. A must-see for anyone, and an absolute MUST for Ron Howard fans.

TURN HIM ON, TAKE HIM HOME.

Watch Ed as he shares his life with a few million of his closest friends!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars REEL LIFE, March 30, 2005

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: EdTV (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

EDtv is not as farfetched as it may have seemed when released. We now have so many "reality" shows that the stuff going on in this flick pales in comparison. What makes Ron Howard's film worthwhile is the way it shows how "real life" goes to "reel life" in a matter of days, as Ed's life is "programmed" to bring in higher ratings. Initially doomed for failure, Ed's life becomes the fodder for everyman's desire to see someone "little" make it big. Millions of fans become obsessed with Ed's life, and of course his mixed up family and romantic life even makes the ratings soar. There are some wonderful little gimmicks Howard uses to show how the series that is doomed to fail becomes such a megahit. In the beginning, the advertisers names flashed across the bottom are local businesses; once EDtv catches on, major companies are flashed instead. Ed's choices in life lead the fans to follow suit: notice how the pizza parlor's business booms after Ed says it's the best pizza in San Francisco (this is in the deleted scenes only). Although the EDtv started out as wanting to capture the real moments in Ed's life, by the time two or three months have passed, Ed's life is no more real than those on "Survivor" or "Big Brother." Let's face it: how can one go about their normal life with microphones and cameras catching everything.
Howard succeeds, however, in making much of the movie seem real; there are times when the characters act as if there wasn't anyone around at all. But, notice how Elizabeth Hurley's character inhales the cameras and all her moves are calculated to look good on film. Note the cruelty, too, of the fans who decide that Sherry (Ed's love) is too plain and not good enough for him, but how they love it when he starts making out with Jill. This fades quickly though once Ed falls off the table and smooshes Jill's cat.
EDtv doesn't always work; it's a little too long, and if you watch the deleted scenes, you'll be amazed at how much they cut out.
The cast is uniformly excellent. Matthew McConaughey as Ed possesses the kind of charismatic charm that would enslave a wide variety of people; Jenna Elfman's cuteness serves the character of Sherry well; Woody Harrelson brings a smarmy but comic force to the role of Ed's opportunistic brother; Ellen DeGeneres is superb as Cynthia, the woman behind the series; Rob Reiner is good as the arrogant and self-centered producer; Martin Landau and Sally Kirkland as Ed's stepfather and real mother are likewise excellent. I wasn't overly impressed with Hurley or Dennis Hopper as Ed's real dad, but their characters were the most under-developed in the whole film.
All in all, EDtv gives us the warning that exposition of one's real life isn't all it is cracked out to be.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, January 2, 2000

By 

Mark Bond (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: EdTV (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

My life is movies. I am an afficionado; I was hired at one of my jobs because I knew a movie fact. Out of all the comedies I've seen, this one is special. Ron Howard has made such a hilarious, heart-warming, and just cool movie that everyone should give it a chance. It is nothing like the Truman Show: besides the fact that they are both excellent films. You will not be disappointed by McConaughey's performance, and you will be surprised by how funny Jenna Elfman and Ellen DeGeneres is (her best film to date). If that is not enough- Elizabeth Hurley is in the film. I'd pay to watch her eat, let alone what she does in this movie. So please enjoy this 5 star movie with five great stars performing.