EDtv (1999)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

EDtvThe upside to being on TV 24/7 is that you can watch reruns to find your misplaced keys.Conversely, as this comedy confirms, live streaming can cost you your family.To boast ratings, producer Cynthia (Ellen DeGeneres) proposes following around blue-collar Ed (Matthew McConaughey) with a camera.While the first episodes flop, once Ed's family (Woody Harrelson, Martin Landau, Sally Kirkland) is introduced viewership goes up. But when a romance starts blossoming between Ed and his brother's girlfriend (Jenna Elfman), Cynthia introduces a supermodel (Elizabeth Hurley) to up the ante.Spawned from late 21st Century paranoia over the threat of reality TV, this 1999 satire based on a French-Canadian film and directed by Ron Howard doesn't delve deep enough in to the technology it is trying to lampoon to make it funny or memorable.Besides, if people really wanted to watch others all-day then human zoos would be more popular.Yellow Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

This movie features one of my favourite Matthew McConaughey performances. And is a movie I think is horribly under rated. It's a movie I can watch at any time, good mood or bad, feeling well or feeling sick, winter, spring, summer or autumn. This movie always holds my attention. Plot In A Paragraph: Television Network, Reality TV, decides to have a show where they show the life of an ordinary guy, 24 hours a day And the ordinary guy they choose is Ed Pekurney (Matthew McConaughey) despite the fact that he didn't film an audition, but appeared on his brother Ray's (Woody Harrelson) audition tape. At first, everything is OK, but soon the presence of the cameras, and ensuing celebrity status cause problems and all sorts of family secrets are revealed to the world. Directed by Ron Howard, filled with great performances, and contains a great score by Randy Edalman and a great song by Bon Jovi "EdTv" was unfortunate to come out a year after Jim Carrey's "Truman Show" which all though also dealt with one man being on TV 24 hours a day, is a totally different concept, as the main star on "The Truman Show" didn't know he was on TV, and didn't know everyone in his life was an actor, in "EdTv" Matthew McConaughey willingly signs up for the show. Sadly it was considered an imitation movie and suffered in comparison at the Box Office.The full cast give great performances McConaughey and Harrelson are always reliable but Jenna Elfman and Ellen DeGeneres more than hold their own. Rob Reiner and Dennis Hopper are both fun and Elizabeth Hurley (Who I have never been a fan of) is perfectly cast as the fame hungry Jill.However, for this reviewer it is Martin Landau as Ed's stepdad who steals the show, He is both hilarious and heartbreaking. Anybody who wants to get into the reality TV world, which is 100% more popular now, than it is was when this movie was made. Needs to watch this show as a warning about the double edged sword of fame/celebrity and reality TV.

I might have given this movie a 3 instead of a 2 if it didn't have an agenda besides being pretty friggin' bad. Flush this one, WOW !! what a waste of time and money. I just can't say enough bad things about this movie. The only real question left is how did they get so much good talent to sign on to this loser ? The story line is just bankrupt of any mature thought. There is no moral. A movie this bad should at least have a message. I am sorry, I must have missed it. I believe some people have been living in the plastic universe of Southern Cal too long. I would be ashamed if I put the money up for this stinker. I may reconsider and drop this to a 1.

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