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

Color:

Color

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:

Some of the viewers of Edtv are watching from the Delta Tau Chi fraternity (letters seen in background), the fictional fraternity from Animal House (1978) (also from Universal Studios).

Goofs:

Continuity: In the theater bathroom, where Ed finds Shari, (after pursuing her from the video store) they show a reaction shot of Shari's roommate watching at home. Then Ed goes out to the production van and, again, they cut to a reaction of Shari's roommate. She is wearing a completely different outfit.

Quotes:

Ed Pekurny: Where's Ma?
Al: She's in the kitchen. I'd yell for her but... I'd die.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

Soundtrack:

Gimme Some Lovin'

"...and you, Ed, are no Truman Burbank!"

EDTV is more concerned with "Ed" than "TV".

In fact, throughout this dull and relentless tale of ordinary Joe Ed turned real-life 24-hour television star, Director Ron Howard consistently resists the obvious satire on the fallout of fame and focuses on the cloyingly saccharine romance that lies at EDTV's mushy core.

If you doubt this (and considering Howard's track record, you may), visit EDTV on DVD and you'll be treated to numerous deleted scenes that satirically drive home the point that fame is indeed a bitch. Unfortunately, these scenes are also some of the darkest, funniest and most telling in the script. (An entire subplot about an EdTV imitator that ends with tragedy was completely eliminated from the final cut.) Why then did they end up on the cutting room floor? Howard can't seem to get away from Mayberry sentimentality enough to make EDTV the film it needs to be by it's very nature. In fact, the stars of the film (Hurley, DeGeneres, Harrelson) could have made a more interesting documentary on the price of fame than EDTV does at it's cautious best.

All hail, however, the film's bright spot, Ellen DeGeneres. Yes, Ellen. With her balance of quirky humor and self-doubting charm, she manages to infuse the film with some sense of purpose and it is she (not wrongly cast lead Matthew McConaughey) that we care about.

See it for Ellen. Or, better yet, rent THE TRUMAN SHOW and cap it off with a re-run of TV's ELLEN. I guarantee more laughs and heaps more satire than the botched EDTV can ever provide.