Edtv
Reviewed by Mac VerStandig
2 stars (out of 4)
e-mail: critic@moviereviews.org
See other reviews by Mac VerStandig at http://www.moviereviews.org
As the 21st century rapidly approaches, much is being made about the public's obsession with material that is, to put it frankly, none of it's business. The stories that attract America's attention for the longest periods of time have not been the cold war's termination, fleeing refugees from 3rd world countries or even the state of the union. Albeit that those are all issues that get a fair amount attention, the larger coverage is given to stories like the assault of a fellow skater that was linked to Tonya Harding, the trial of O. J. Simpson, and the relationship between a certain world leader and a young intern. It can be argued that this is due to people's need for knowledge that they are not the only ones with imperfections, and there are others with even greater dilemmas. But whatever the cause, there seems to be little more that the public enjoys, as the latest Ron Howard film, Edtv demonstrates, than being able to turn on the television or pick up a newspaper and see, hear or read about someone else's problems.
Ed Pekurny (Mathew McConaughey) is little more than your average guy with real world problems. He is about 30 years old, single and has an ordinary job at the local video store. His role model is Burt Reynolds, and yet the two seem to have little in common. His father left him when he was 12, and his mother lives with his step father, Al (Martin Landau), who raised him for all intensive purposes. His older brother, Ray (Woody Harrelson) is very similar to Ed but features a far more attractive life with six month girlfriend, Shari (Jenna Elfman).
On the other side of the ball there is Cynthia (Ellen DeGeneres) and Dr. Whitaker (Rob Reiner) who are both executives at a documentary based television network. They are wealthy and don't face problems similar to Ed's, but rather one major issue, that of slumping ratings. As of late, their network has been doing so bad that it actually lost out to "the Gardening Channel." Cynthia has a plan that will either bring them back to the top, or lose it all. The risk is major, but she is confident that if you put one person on television and follow every moment of their life, people will watch.
Of course, Ed is selected as the one and agrees. This process is most predictable and often is actually boring to watch. However, that soon ends when the great television experiments begins and "coincidentally" things start to become interesting. (A typical Hollywood touch to a film of this nature.)
Mathew McConaughey is less than stellar in his lead role. Often upstaged by Woody Harrelson, Martin Landau, Jenna Elfman, and even in a cameo by Dennis Hopper, his performance is most ironic as it often resembles a poorly acted television drama. One scene in particular features him with a love interest where his every move seems staged leading up to the soon to be stolen kiss. Other scenes are remarkably similar, but they are supposed to be staged to some degree, so it is harder to assign blame to McConaughey alone for them.
Fortunately, the supporting cast is absolutely brilliant. As the movie takes turns towards the melodramatic, and becomes more and more predictable, they seem to be the only saving grace in scene after scene. Ellen DeGeneres in particular stands out as someone who could have easily overplayed her role, but instead chose to turn in a refreshingly smart performance. At one point she has what is scripted as a break down type scene at a conference table, that could have very easily not only ruined her job, but Reiner's as well. However, instead of going for the over used Hollywood effect of over the top acting, she keeps it very light and actually makes a very good statement in doing so.
Despite the fine ensemble acting minus McConaughey, Edtv has a major flaw that reaches far beyond one poor performance. The movie has a very black and white message that is an opposition to scandalous entertainment, in particular it uses the given example of a man's life on television. The problem with that is 90% of the entertainment in this film does not come from the scenes focussing around this 24-hours a day documentary, but rather from us watching the man on television. So, despite sending a heavy message against the monitoring of other lives for entertainment, the movie relies on that very concept.
However, the question must be posed if the film itself is at fault for this. After all, almost all movies rely on the life and times of one person, fictional or real, as their main source of entertainment. But when a comparison is drawn to The Truman Show, an earlier release about a similar situation, you realize that films like this can be done tastefully. And you also realize that most films focussing on an individual, do so in a less scandalous and more pure fashion.
A realization must be made though. And that is that the public does seem to enjoy this type of "real life" trash. We may not want to admit it, and we may know that it is wrong, but we do like seeing other people's flaws. And this movie is masterful at doing that. It pokes fun in a way that is absolutely hysterical and keeps you interested for the two hours.
So, overall Edtv has some positives and negatives. The acting is good; but that is countered by one central performance that is horrendous. The message is very moralistic and delivered in an enjoyable fashion; but that is countered by a contradiction that undermines the entire film. Ultimately I did enjoy this film, as I have enjoyed the various scandals of the past few years. But I never gave my approval to OJ, or Tonya, or Monica, and I don't plan on starting here.
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