Common Sense Media Review
By Renee Schonfeld
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Comic satire of reality TV; lots of dysfunction, sexuality.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
EDtv
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
True TV, a fictional basic cable channel, is desperate for ratings in EDTV. Executive Cynthia Topping (a genial Ellen DeGeneres) comes to the rescue when she proposes that the channel capture the life of one American in real time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Her superiors are skeptical; who'd want to watch? The answer comes swiftly -- everyone would watch if the one American is the handsome, captivating Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey in great comic form). When Ed's love life, family melodrama, and feud with his moronic brother Ray (an all-out daft Woody Harrelson) explode, the ratings explode along with them. The bewildered Ed, affable at the outset but not all that aware, soon learns that being on television full-time is not the lark he thought it would be, that losing all sense of privacy is much worse than being a bit of a slacker, and that relationships suffer terribly if they're shared with a rabid public. An airtight contract seems to have determined Ed's fate, but when he figures it out, he's no longer the rube who sealed the deal; Mr. Pekurny becomes his own staunch advocate.
Is It Any Good?
This movie has gotten funnier over time because the message has so much more resonance. A box office failure when it was released, EDtv finally found audiences years after its release. After watching the reality TV genre become exactly like Ed Pekurny's show, audiences have had renewed interest in the film. It's gained in stature and popularity and has achieved cult-like status in some circles. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are both terrific; they play their parts with abandon, never afraid to look too ridiculous. Ellen DeGeneres and Jenna Elfman are wonderfully charming. The film relies heavily on broad, farcical situations, on a laughable family so filled with dysfunction that it seemed fantastical at the time of the film's release. Though there's no actual sex, the movie depends upon sexuality, seduction, infidelity, and coarse language for much of the low-brow humor. However, today's reality TV with its self-made celebrities and proverbial "rock stars" has proven that no life captured on visual media is too ludicrous to earn an audience.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the basic premise of this movie anticipated what actually happened in the world of reality television after 1999 (when the movie was released). Though the story may have seemed outrageous at the time, what is there about shows like EDtv that draw such huge audiences?
Satire can be a powerful way to expose society's imperfections. What is satire? What is EDtv satirizing? How are "satire" and "parody" different?
What does the movie mean when it asks, "Are people famous for being special, or are they special for being famous?" How does the answer apply to today's roster of celebrities?
Movie Details
- In theaters : March 28, 1999
- On DVD or streaming : August 17, 1999
- Cast : Matthew McConaughey , Woody Harrelson , Jenna Elfman
- Director : Ron Howard
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Imagine Entertainment
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 124 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : sex-related situations, partial nudity, and crude language
- Last updated : September 20, 2019
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