Edtv (1999)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Ron Howard

Writers (WGA):

Émile Gaudreault (screenplay) &
Sylvie Bouchard (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Fame. Be careful. It's out there.

Plot:

Video store clerk Ed agrees to have his life filmed by a camera crew for a tv network.

Plot Keywords:

Video Store | Producer | Television | Soda Machine | Invasion Of Privacy

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Matthew McConaughey	...	Ed 'Eddie' Pekurny
Jenna Elfman	...	Shari
Woody Harrelson	...	Ray Pekurny
Sally Kirkland	...	Jeanette
Martin Landau	...	Al
Ellen DeGeneres	...	Cynthia Topping
Rob Reiner	...	Mr. Whitaker
Dennis Hopper	...	Henry 'Hank' Pekurny
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Jill
Adam Goldberg	...	John
Viveka Davis	...	Marcia
Clint Howard	...	Ken
Geoffrey Blake	...	Keith
Gail Boggs	...	Wife
Jenna Byrne	...	Felicia

Also Known As:

Ed TV (USA) (poster title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sex-related situations, partial nudity and crude language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #36388) | Iceland:L | Denmark:A (DVD rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 (original rating) | Argentina:M (DVD rating) | Australia:PG | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Norway:7 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:18 | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - One S. Castillo Drive, St. Augustine, Florida, USA

Company:

Imagine Entertainment

Trivia:

During one scene, after Shari has left, Ed is in his video store and sees a woman in a wig and sunglasses outside whom he recognizes as Shari in disguise. In the background you can see a poster for the movie Vertigo (1958), which features a woman disguising herself in a similar fashion.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ed and his family are discussing whether or not to do the show, the cap on the 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew appears and disappears between shots.

Quotes:

John: Look, Ed, you put *anybody* on television sixteen hours a day, and sooner or later they're going to fall off a table and land on a cat.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Soundtrack:

Let's Go Team #1

Entertaining but not great

True TV launch their new concept – Real Life TV, where cameras will follow one person's life 24/7 and put it all unedited on TV. When Ed is dragged into his brother's audition tape he catches the eye of the studio and he becomes the lucky subject of edtv! However when he falls for Ray's girlfriend Shari things get difficult and he finds that his new found fame is not all it cracked up to be.

Stepping out of the shadow of The Truman Show came another film about reality TV and the nature of fame. However this has little to do with Truman in terms of content, instead it tries to be more of a comedy and tries to mix a little bit of social comment. The story is essentially a romance but it doesn't convince. It doesn't work simply because the whole idea of looking at fame, reality tv and studios is more interesting (even if it doesn't come off). The film promises much but doesn't fully use it's potential – the comedy is never a funny as you hope, the look at fame and TV is never as clever or as deep as you think.

It's a shame that it isn't better because the cast is good on paper. McConaughey is still a rising star (although needs a big hit soon). Harrelson is good as he usually is when in support and Elfman is pretty good as Shari. The support cast is great too – Landau is funny, DeGeneres is good, Reiner is funny and wicked while lesser roles are filled out by the likes of Hurley, Dennis Hopper, Clint Howard. Get past these and you have tonnes of little cameos from the likes of Harry Shearer, Michael Moore, Jay Leno and George Plimpton.

Overall this is enjoyable – it's just that you feel that all of it's parts have potential that are never fully realised. It's OK but you can't help feeling that it's a missed opportunity.