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Ed (Matthew McConaughey) and Shari (Jenna Elfman)
live life in the public eye in EDtv.
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Meet Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey). His Texas drawl is intentionally thick. It wows the ladies. A can of beer dangles in a container strapped around his neck. There is a thick strip of fuzz above Ed's upper lip, and stubble covers his chin. Ed, a 31-year-old clerk at a San Francisco video store, is an ordinary working-class Joe. He's the last person you'd expect to be a TV celebrity. Of course, that's the point behind director Ron Howard's comically enlightened social-farce EDtv.
Desperate times have made cable channel True TV desperate for ratings. Theirs is a simple plan: Pick one normal person and put that person's life on television. The show's producer, Cynthia Topping (Ellen DeGeneres) knows she has a winner in Ed, although Ed's stepfather (Martin Landau) isn't too sure: "What happens when you go to the bathroom? Do they go with you?"
The show grows into a national phenomenon. Fans swarm Ed on the street. His face adorns countless covers of newspapers and magazines. At a Tonight Show appearance, a sexy model/actress (Elizabeth Hurley) flirts shamelessly. America is hooked on Ed, and True TV has its golden goose.
"He's a Beatle," says Cynthia. "OK, he's not a Beatle. He's a Spice Girl. He's a Beanie Baby. He's Menudo."
The problem, at least for Ed and his family, is that fame comes with a complete loss of privacy.
Comparisons to The Truman Show are obvious, since both tell similar stories: The power of television to create heroes. Although EDtv's broadcast cynicism and gut instinct storytelling is closer in spirit to 1976's social-drama Network, the film wisely keeps its moralizing very matter-of-fact. Its key lesson about celebrity is told with a subtle touch: Everything is fake.
EDtv is a welcome departure for McConaughey, who's been sidetracked by high dramas such as Contact and Amistad. He is at his best when playing a good ol' boy like Ed. His charm seems authentic. His performance glides through the film with a natural ease. Basically, McConaughey comes across as Ed, a distinct, blue-collar hero clad in worn green jeans and a Wonder Bread T-shirt, a modern update of Frank Capra's all-American protagonist, arriving at a time when most Hollywood films remain fixated on upper-class characters. But unlike a mean-spirited comedy such as Adam Sandler's The Waterboy, EDtv never ridicules its working-class characters. Ed, his family and friends are treated with compassion and respect.
It's a welcome shot of substance from Howard and longtime writing partners Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel (who've scripted four past Howard comedies, Night Shift, Splash, Gung Ho and Parenthood). Howard never pushes the creative element with EDtv -- c'mon, you didn't think this guy was the next Kubrick did you? -- telling Ed's story in day-by-day fashion, framing McConaughey with a sober mix of video playback and conventional close-ups.
Still, Howard's audience-friendly storytelling is a bold reminder that a commercial movie can also be of exceptional quality. Some jokes are sophomoric: A squashed cat and Ed's morning erections fail to spark There's Something About Mary-like gross-out humor. But Howard keeps EDtv on track with its core strengths: McConaughey's compelling lead character and an array of strong supporting performances from Jenna Elfman as Ed's flustered girlfriend; Woody Harrelson as Ed's envious brother; DeGeneres as an angst-ridden TV producer and Rob Reiner as True TV's smarmy exec.
EDtv's winning cast manages to keep its comedy from sinking to the lowest possible denominator, even when the film resorts to a climactic revenge plot and penile implant jokes. It's Howard's way of re-emphasizing EDtv's Capra legacy. Strip away its broad humor, and Ed follows in the moviemade tradition of an average-Joe hero fighting a big money corporation. When Ed is told -- "Go home, Gomer" -- it makes for an unexpected dramatic punch.
EDtv was always expected to pack plenty of laughs. After all, Howard has always showed a director's knack for tweaking funny bones. But EDtv surprises with its rich story of average-Joe heroism. Of course, you can't have a heroic tale without a compelling hero. Just as I can't imagine EDtv without McConaughey's Ed. They fit together that well. (Rated PG-13.)
Citybeat Grade: B.
