EDtv: SE

Ed Pekurny (Mathew McConaughey) is a typical loser living a middle-American, working class life. A lowly clerk at a local video store, he spends his spare time at the pub around a pool table with his friends and big-mouth brother Ray (Woody Harrelson). Totally apathetic about his futureless existence, he harbours no aspirations for anything better.

However a change is on the way for Ed. From a slew of aspiring nobodies, he is selected as the subject of a new 24-hour reality show; cameras following him around the clock and broadcasting his every movement. Suddenly, Ed and his unwitting family are thrust into the national media spotlight and, now made larger than life, shadows are cast over their relatively normal existence. Almost overnight, cracks begin to show in the family unit and skeletons begin to spring from every closet. Of course this all makes for brilliant copy, causing Ed’s rising star to go supernova. Soon he and his television show – the newly coined ‘EDtv’, are national sensations. However, amid all the excitement surrounding the show and his newfound stardom, Ed discovers his missing direction in life is a little closer to home. Falling for his brother’s girlfriend Shari (Jenna Elfman), the two begin a very public courtship. Despite being very obviously in love, it remains to be seen whether Ed and Sheri’s fledgling relationship can stand up to the media scrutiny that EDtv brings them…

Unfortunately for director Ron Howard, EDtv hit cinema screens less than six months after Peter Weir’s highly successful treatise on real-life-as-art The Truman Show and, like a slew of other studio-copy projects that have come before and seem to be continuing unabated, is doomed to be compared with Weir’s infinitely superior offering forever-after. Not that EDtv is a bad film - far from it. It’s just that both films present modern mass-media morality plays focussed around the premise of 24-hour-life-as-television. And where one provides a sharply poignant, often touching study of the caged human psyche, the other is a straight-forward romantic comedy.

OK, enough said. But while a simple rom-com it may be, Ron Howard again brings his sizeable talent for illustrating the seeming normality of family dysfunction to the project. Armed with a meaty script and a great cast, in EDtv Howard has provided a highly entertaining film that, whilst at times laugh-out-loud funny, satisfies with well-drawn characters and a nicely developed thematic thread. At one point cheekily spelled-out in a short sound bite, the theme revolves around the nature of celebrity and the media’s dissection of the personal lives of the rich and famous for entertainment. The key observation here is that even the most normal life would not stand up to close public scrutiny, and would most certainly suffer under the pressure it brings.

Much of the film’s success, at least in comedic terms, is due to the cast, who deliver universally solid performances. Mathew McConaughey’s Ed is a likeable enough yob; certainly suave enough in his own way to sell his potential celebrity status. Woody Harrelson is also in typically fine form. No-one does brash but flawed trailer-trash quite like Woody. Jenna Elfman also puts in a fine performance as Ed’s love interest; her skittish, slightly tomboy screen persona serving her very well here. In every performance of Jenna's I've managed to catch (there have been too few) she has stolen scenes from all and sundry. Surely she should have knocked yesterday's rom-com-queen Meg Ryan off her shaky perch by now? Surrounding the leads is also a stellar supporting cast, with great turns from the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Martin Landau and even Dennis Hopper. A cameo from Liz Hurley reinforces just what a completely talentless bimbo she really is.

Now not having seen Columbia’s original transfer of EDtv, I can’t tell you whether this Special Edition re-release from Universal has improved on the video quality. But certainly the anamorphic (1.78:1) digital transfer served up by Universal this time around is quality all the way. Displaying only one or two black specks throughout, the transfer has been taken from a near-perfect print. Colours, vibrant and full, have been replicated faithfully as evidenced by realistic skin tones. Sharp and detailed, the image displays no undue aliasing, and moire can only be seen on the numerous instances of video monitors (a largely unavoidable function of DVD resolution). Blacks are deep and solid, and shadow detail is impressive.

Instances of grain can be seen peppering the source material on a number of occasions; all an inherent part of the original source material. A very small amount of film grain can be observed in the background of some interior, but mostly under lit, scenes. More obvious are the numerous instances of video grain affecting those shots that are deliberately sourced from the various cameras that dot Ed’s world. As for compression-related artefacts, there's not a hint to be seen. A fantastic job from Universal and a near-perfect digital offering.

To make its re-release just that extra bit special, Universal have included a DTS 5.1 mix over and above the existing Dolby Digital 5.1 offering. Providing a touch better fidelity over its Dolby counterpart, the DTS mix is certainly a welcome addition but, as pretty stock-standard rom-com fodder, EDtv never really takes advantage of it. While the all-important dialogue is clear and distinct throughout, the surround channels are used sparingly; coming into their own only when the score ramps up. At these times the soundstage is full and balanced nicely between the front and rear channels. At others, the surround channels supply a small yet constant amount of ambient sound, from bar room patrons to traffic, the paparazzi and Ed’s noisy fans. Correspondingly, while front channel separation can be observed situating off-camera dialogue and with the odd panning effect, rear channel separation is far less noticeable. Like the surround channels, the subwoofer is used subtly, adding body to the score and to the noisier foley elements such as trucks and the odd thud and bump.

Some pretty uninspiring, static (non-anamorphic) menus greet us on booting the disc, but they do the job for which they were intended; providing access to some quite reasonable extras.

• Commentary with director Ron Howard: Ron talks about what attracted him to the project, what the actors brought to each of the scenes, the various comedic adlibs, some of the thematic elements, cinematography, what he was trying to achieve visually - you know, the usually directorial stuff. Ron is just such an utterly nice guy that it really is a delight just to listen to him talk. There are several long pauses, but you get the feeling Ron is just soaking up the scene. All in all a great commentary from a great filmmaker

• Commentary with writers Lewell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel: Hey, they’re comedy writers, so I expected a few gags - a few good gags mind you - but Lewell and Babaloo mostly pass very unfunny comments on here, combined with a few anecdotes now and again. Ultimately, with more silence than talking, it’s a pretty poor excuse for a commentary.

• Deleted Scenes: After a nine second into from Ron Howard, we launch into a 40 minute string of deleted scenes (yes 40 minutes!), presented in chronological order without any kind of break between them. There’s lots of mundane stuff from Ed’s real-life in here, but there are some gems buried in there too.

• Outtakes: 17 scenes containing fluffed lines, cases of the giggles, practical jokes, rolling off tables with Liz Hurley. The usual stuff.

• Music Highlights: Presents a selectable list of 24 songs from the film, allowing you to view the snippet in which it is used.

• Soundtrack Presentation: (8:45) Starts with a TV advertisement for the film soundtrack on CD, and then moves onto film clips for Barenaked Ladies’ Call and Answer and Bon Jovi’s Real Life. Ah, rock'n'roll never look so average!

• Theatrical Trailer: (2:00n) Full frame, great transfer.

• DTS Trailer: The piano one.

In terms of the original release, Universal have added the two commentaries at the expense of some production notes, cast and crew biographies and a half hour making-of featurette. Not having seen this original 30-minute featurette, I can’t comment on whether or not the loss is significant, but I would guess that, in the end, Howard’s commentary is a much more satisfying addition.

Like many of Ron Howard’s other comedies, EDtv is a highly enjoyable film that you find yourself going back to time and time again. Light enough to fit the bill after a stressful day at work, and yet supplying well-drawn characters and a satisfying amount of emotional depth, it makes for the perfect distraction. Crammed with extras and a new DTS audio track, this re-release from Universal may well see fans of EDtv diving back into their pockets. Recommended.