Amazon.co.uk Review
The third entry of 1998-99's cinematic TV trilogy kind of got lost in the shuffle following The Truman Show, an art film masquerading as a blockbuster, and Pleasantville, a heartfelt feel-good movie masquerading as a special-effects extravaganza. Edtv is nothing more than it appears: a scruffy comedy about fame and its discontents. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ed, a white-trash rube who gets his own dawn-to-midnight TV series in which every aspect of his life, no matter how sordid or dull or embarrassing, becomes mass entertainment (it inverts Truman by having the protagonist invite the pervasive cameras). Predictably, fame makes him miserable and, unsurprisingly, he finds a way out of his predicament. Albert Brooks covered this same territory in the funnier Real Life, and it's probably not the best idea for a load of comfy celebs to preach to us about how difficult fame is. But the film is cannily cast, including a number of performers who themselves have fallen victim to stupid media tricks (McConaughey, Ellen DeGeneres as the network executive, Elizabeth Hurley as a vamp hitching her star to Ed's and Woody Harrelson as Ed's even dumber brother). Structurally, the movie is a mess. It looks as if the filmmakers had the choice between making a fully realised, two-and-a-half-hour-long movie that no one would sit through or one that clocks in under two hours but has a lot of plot holes; they opted for the latter (Hurley's character disappears, practically without comment). Still, there are enough laughs to keep things moving and as a shaggy dog tale it's decent fun. --David Kronke, Amazon.com --This text refers to another version of this video.
Customer Reviews:
Good drama/comedy.......2008-01-05
It's difficult to create a good movie that mixes comedy and drama in a good way. EDtv manages to do it. The movie is perhaps more relevant today than it was when it was released. In 1999, the story was a satire of what might have been, but today with all the reality-tv-shows, it is... well... reality. The movie is fun but it also has something to say. Who wants to be famous. It seems like everyone does. But what sort of skeletons would they find in your closet if they followed you, or your family, around 24/7? And is there a voyeur in all of us, since millions of people tune in to watch everyday people do everyday things? And how can we have such strong opinions about people we only know from TV? In the EDtv, the viewers have opinions about Ed's girlfriend. 71% think she's ugly and annoying; dump her. The viewers want British model Jill to be his new girlfriend and the producers are quick to arrange it. So what's really real and what's manufactured on so called "reality" shows?
EDtv is a good mix of drama and comedy and the cast is great. Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman and Woody Harrelson play the leads and the supporting cast includes Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau and Dennis Hopper, all doing a great job.
Big Brother Hollywood Version.......2007-12-24
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson work excellently on screen as Ed, the guy who is put on TV, and Ray, his energetic brother, who WANTS his life to be put on TV. You get a unique love triangle between the two brothers and Shari, the object of both of their affection. Shari is actually one of the better characters in the film, because the viewing audience soon proves to not be very fond of Shari, and Jenna Elfman makes this very believable with her nerve gratingly aggravating performance. Interviews with the public showed that people were fed up with her whole attitude about the whole EdTV spectacle, and I found myself feeling the same way. Every time she was on screen complaining I just wanted her to get lost.
It is McConaughey and Harrelson who really made the film work, with their excellent performances (but what the hell was the deal with the chicken dance?). The film also very effectively evoked some genuine emotion at several points, particularly in the scenes that dealt with Ed's and Ray's torn family life. There area also some very well known actors, particularly Dennis Hopper and Elizabeth Hurley, who show up in EdTV for some relatively small roles.
its reality, its EDTV.......2006-08-11
When looking at the A star cast you can see the talent there. With the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Hurley I knew this was a must watch.
From director Ron Howard viewers will get the chance to explore the life of middle aged singleton Ed Pekurny as he goes from being a nobody to a celebrity by volunteering himself to star in a network experiment, being filmed 24/7 live infront of millions.
The story is great because of the sheer stupidity used by the great cast. Through the likable funny characters viewers are giving different aspects of `real' life such as family, relationship and job ideologies are beautifully portrayed by the infamous stars.
Through consistent one liners and also physical humorous actions by the characters EDTV will win over many audiences as it adds chucklesome humour but drives itself on emotional driven situations to, given a perfectly balance aspect of real life.
great!.......2005-04-14
This is a great film that made me laugh out loud in quite a few places, and is definately worth watching, the underlying theme is romance, but it doesn't overpower the movie - it won't make you want to stick your fingers down your throat!
ha ha ha ha HA.......2003-12-30
What a film - i only watched this after it was on the tele, and after Mathew McConahey had become more of a household name and up until then it had not interested me, but, OH MY GOD!!! how funny is this film - laugh out loud funny - thats how funny! Watch out for the amazing performance from the guy who played "Eddie" in "Friends" - he really is fantastic! - very nearly a 5 star film!
Amazon.co.uk Review
The third entry of 1998-99's cinematic TV trilogy kind of got lost in the shuffle following The Truman Show, an art film masquerading as a blockbuster, and Pleasantville, a heartfelt feel-good movie masquerading as a special-effects extravaganza. Edtv is nothing more than it appears: a scruffy comedy about fame and its discontents. Matthew McConaughey stars as Ed, a white-trash rube who gets his own dawn-to-midnight TV series in which every aspect of his life, no matter how sordid or dull or embarrassing, becomes mass entertainment (it inverts Truman by having the protagonist invite the pervasive cameras). Predictably, fame makes him miserable and, unsurprisingly, he finds a way out of his predicament. Albert Brooks covered this same territory in the funnier Real Life, and it's probably not the best idea for a load of comfy celebs to preach to us about how difficult fame is. But the film is cannily cast, including a number of performers who themselves have fallen victim to stupid media tricks (McConaughey, Ellen DeGeneres as the network executive, Elizabeth Hurley as a vamp hitching her star to Ed's and Woody Harrelson as Ed's even dumber brother). Structurally, the movie is a mess. It looks as if the filmmakers had the choice between making a fully realised, two-and-a-half-hour-long movie that no one would sit through or one that clocks in under two hours but has a lot of plot holes; they opted for the latter (Hurley's character disappears, practically without comment). Still, there are enough laughs to keep things moving and as a shaggy dog tale it's decent fun. --David Kronke, Amazon.com --This text refers to another version of this video.
Customer Reviews:
Good drama/comedy.......2008-01-05
It's difficult to create a good movie that mixes comedy and drama in a good way. EDtv manages to do it. The movie is perhaps more relevant today than it was when it was released. In 1999, the story was a satire of what might have been, but today with all the reality-tv-shows, it is... well... reality. The movie is fun but it also has something to say. Who wants to be famous. It seems like everyone does. But what sort of skeletons would they find in your closet if they followed you, or your family, around 24/7? And is there a voyeur in all of us, since millions of people tune in to watch everyday people do everyday things? And how can we have such strong opinions about people we only know from TV? In the EDtv, the viewers have opinions about Ed's girlfriend. 71% think she's ugly and annoying; dump her. The viewers want British model Jill to be his new girlfriend and the producers are quick to arrange it. So what's really real and what's manufactured on so called "reality" shows?
EDtv is a good mix of drama and comedy and the cast is great. Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman and Woody Harrelson play the leads and the supporting cast includes Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau and Dennis Hopper, all doing a great job.
Big Brother Hollywood Version.......2007-12-24
Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson work excellently on screen as Ed, the guy who is put on TV, and Ray, his energetic brother, who WANTS his life to be put on TV. You get a unique love triangle between the two brothers and Shari, the object of both of their affection. Shari is actually one of the better characters in the film, because the viewing audience soon proves to not be very fond of Shari, and Jenna Elfman makes this very believable with her nerve gratingly aggravating performance. Interviews with the public showed that people were fed up with her whole attitude about the whole EdTV spectacle, and I found myself feeling the same way. Every time she was on screen complaining I just wanted her to get lost.
It is McConaughey and Harrelson who really made the film work, with their excellent performances (but what the hell was the deal with the chicken dance?). The film also very effectively evoked some genuine emotion at several points, particularly in the scenes that dealt with Ed's and Ray's torn family life. There area also some very well known actors, particularly Dennis Hopper and Elizabeth Hurley, who show up in EdTV for some relatively small roles.
its reality, its EDTV.......2006-08-11
When looking at the A star cast you can see the talent there. With the likes of Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Hurley I knew this was a must watch.
From director Ron Howard viewers will get the chance to explore the life of middle aged singleton Ed Pekurny as he goes from being a nobody to a celebrity by volunteering himself to star in a network experiment, being filmed 24/7 live infront of millions.
The story is great because of the sheer stupidity used by the great cast. Through the likable funny characters viewers are giving different aspects of `real' life such as family, relationship and job ideologies are beautifully portrayed by the infamous stars.
Through consistent one liners and also physical humorous actions by the characters EDTV will win over many audiences as it adds chucklesome humour but drives itself on emotional driven situations to, given a perfectly balance aspect of real life.
great!.......2005-04-14
This is a great film that made me laugh out loud in quite a few places, and is definately worth watching, the underlying theme is romance, but it doesn't overpower the movie - it won't make you want to stick your fingers down your throat!
ha ha ha ha HA.......2003-12-30
What a film - i only watched this after it was on the tele, and after Mathew McConahey had become more of a household name and up until then it had not interested me, but, OH MY GOD!!! how funny is this film - laugh out loud funny - thats how funny! Watch out for the amazing performance from the guy who played "Eddie" in "Friends" - he really is fantastic! - very nearly a 5 star film!
DVD:
- Elgar: Enigma Variations
- Eminem - E [2000]
- Giuseppe Verdi: Falstaff [1999] (NTSC)
- Go Diego Go!: The Great Dinosaur Rescue (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Heartworn Highways [1981] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Hello Kitty 1
- Hey Arnold(The Movie) Dvd [1996]
- Horrible Histories : Vicious Vikings
- Innocent Lies [1995] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Intermezzo [1939]
DVD List
DVD