EDtv pokes affectionate fun at celebrity and the media. Directed by Ron Howard from a script by Parenthood collaborators Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, EDtv shows us that celebrity isn't all it's cracked up to be, even when we ask for it. 

Struggling cable TV programming director Ellen DeGeneres decides to take an ordinary person and film their every move 24/7. She holds auditions and hits on likable rube, Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey). Ed, a thirty-something, unambitious video store clerk, jumps at the chance to expose his life on national television. And he's a natural. Nothing seems to embarrass him -- not his notable wake up ritual, not his bathroom habits or his workaday life. It's all fodder for the camera, and he revels in it.  

Ed's on-camera life starts out fairly boring -- shaving, clipping his toenails -- but gains notice and heat when the camera catches older brother Ray (Woody Harrelson) cheating on girlfriend Shari (Jenna Elfman). The cameras follow Ed as he comforts Shari and the whole nation, including his philandering brother and mother and stepfather, watch as comfort turns to something much more. Ed's fame skyrockets, and he learns how claustrophobic celebritydom can become.  

Some critics compared EDtv to last year's The Truman Show, but the comparison is misplaced. In Truman, everyone but Truman knew he was on television. Ed willingly invites the cameras into his life. Where the two movies meet is in the realization that in-your-face, incessant, intrusive celebrity can grow debilitating. 

For EDtv, Howard rounded up an unusually strong cast -- all of whom have had their own bouts with sudden fame and celebrity. Each one seems to bring something of their real life experiences to the film. 

McConaughey makes a great Ed. Extremely likable and no stranger to fandom and sudden celebrity, EDtv could give him the star turn that Vanity Fair predicted. Harrelson, who could definitely pass for McConaughey's brother, shines as the jealous, charming, roguish elder brother Ray. Elfman, the one person not comfortable in having her life played out for millions, proves adorably vulnerable as Ed's girlfriend.  

Elizabeth Hurley, who survived her own 15 minutes of unwanted fame, displays a real flair for comedy as the model on the make. And DeGeneres and Rob Reiner are simply fabulous. No one does sarcasm like DeGeneres, and she makes the most of every bit of screen time. Reiner's on-target depiction of the network executive from hell shows why he should spend more time in front of the camera.  

Howard knows his subject only too well and it helps enormously. EDtv marks a welcome return to his genial comedic roots. 

Joan Fuchsman

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