|
| Edtv |
|
  (8/10)
|
Runtime: 122 |
| Public Rating: 6.43 (14 votes) |
Director: Ron Howard |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Comedy |
Year: 1999 |
| Writer(s): Émile Gaudreault & Sylvie Bouchard (original screenplay), Lowell |
| Reviewed by: Arturo García Lasca |
| |
Edtv is an underrated movie for a truly dumb reason. Several months before it came out, there was a Jim Carrey drama called "The Truman Show" that caused a lot of talking among film lovers, everyone was commenting on Carrey's ability to play a dramatic character, how the film was pretty great, and he even won a Golden Globe for his performance. The problem is, Carrey's flick was about him being filmed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, something pretty unsual; When "Edtv" came out and people noticed it involved the "filming someone the whole time" idea, they instanly started to compare it with "The Truman Show", and most ended up saying it wasn't as good, and that it was bad, etc, etc. The thing is, they're completely different movies, for multiple reasons, you shouldn't even think of Truman while watching Edtv.
It all starts when a television network is having problems, it seems that nobody watches their channel, and they're desperate to do something that would solve this problem. Cynthia (Ellen DeGeneres) comes up with the idea of filming someone 24/7, not acting or anything, just a normal person. After an interview they decide to use Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey). Ed is pretty normal, in fact he is called a loser by some people. He works at a video store and he does nothing but hang out with the guys at night. They start shooting Ed, and shortly after he discovers his brother Ray (Woody Harrelson) is cheating on his girlfriend Shari (Jenna Elfman), so he takes the chance and after finding out she has liked him for a long while, he begins a relationship with Shari. They seem perfect for each other.
But there's a problem, the cameras. Even though every critic on every show is saying that the situation is a new low on TV shows, the people seem to love Edtv, and they're all watching it. Soon Ed would be the most famous guy in the United States, appearing in the newspaper's covers and on TV the whole day. The cameras just wont leave, they have to be filming him all the time, even when he's trying to kiss Shari, and she doesn't like that. But that really makes her sad is the people's comments, everyone on TV and in newspaper's polls are saying she is not the right girl for Ed, and they even made a list of possible girls for him; She ends up running away. Now Ed has a lot of problems.. He can't make the filming stop, since the contract said they had to be fimling as long as they wanted to, he has now lost Shari, there is a thing involving his father, everyone on his family is being filmed, and he doesn't know how to get out of the situation.
I find "Edtv" to be a pretty well made film, that was exactly what it was meant to be: a good comedy. The story is pretty nice, not only the filming stuff, there's a lot more to it, family problems and so on, it was pretty well written if you ask me. There are plenty jokes in this film to keep you happy through the whole two hours, every single character does what they're supossed to do, with Woody Harrelson probably being the funniest of them all. Also the jokes are not grose or offensive, it's a PG-13 film so it's pretty suitable for all tastes.
It's a shame this film is still compared to "The Truman Show". Lets take a look: Truman didn't know he was being filmed, Ed certainly did, since guys around him with cameras were there all the time. Truman wasn't a funny character, nor was any character in that film, that was a drama; Edtv is a comedy, with a good script of course. Well, that's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure if you watch both films you'll understand what I'm talking about. "Edtv" is an enjoyable movie, I'd recommend it to anyone.
|
 Printable Version
|
Do you agree/disagree with this review of Edtv? Let your opinions be heard in our forum.
|
Buy the Poster of Edtv (Click Here)
|
|
|
|
