‘EDtv’ wants to be smart, but lacks substance

EDTV, directed by Ron Howard and written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Running time: 123 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for language, brief nudity, sexual content).

TV or not TV, that is the question in Ron Howard’s “EDtv,” which focuses on our obsession with instant celebrities and the price of fame in a culture increasingly hooked on trash TV.

The film is a bizarre cross between PBS’ “An American Family,” MTV’s “The Real World,” and “The Jerry Springer Show,” which makes middle-class Americans feel superior by exploiting the sometimes hilarious shenanigans found at the shallow end of the gene pool.

“Howard’s “EDtv” is no exception; it knows we’ve become a culture fascinated by the darker side of our nature, and thus focuses on the root of that fascination through the eyes of Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey), a Texas-born, San Francisco-based video clerk who is Howard’s idea of today’s ordinary Everyman — decent, warm-hearted and apparently forever horny.

Plucked from obscurity by a desperate television producer (Ellen DeGeneres), Ed is quickly signed to star in his own life. Televised on the nearly washed-up cable channel True TV, the show is live, runs nonstop, and includes members of Ed’s low-life family: brother Ray (Woody Harrelson), mother, Jeanette (Sally Kirkland), stepfather, Al (Martin Landau), girlfriend Shari (Jenna Elfman) and scores of extras, all of whom will do anything for a moment in Ed’s rapidly growing limelight.

As the world turns to their television sets, Ed’s life predictably gives way to soap opera. But it’s an uninspired, dumbed-down soap opera that seems oddly scripted for something that’s supposed to mirror real life. And here is where the film differs from “The Truman Show,” which is a film about voyeurism; “EDtv” is about the less interesting exhibitionism. Further, it’s only occasionally funny while never truly serving its real purpose: emerging as the sharp, social commentary Howard intended.

Like most of Howard’s films, this one wants to be smarter than it is. It wants to make statements, take risks, leave its audience with something to think about. But it doesn’t because it lacks substance.

It’s its own worst enemy — it wants us to feel that television is bad and people are bad for tuning into it — yet it never convinces us that television was so bad for Ed, who becomes a wiser, richer, far more interesting person after his time on the tube.

It’s an ending that caused this critic to wonder: If television made Ed a better person, what could it possibly do for those bitter, combative people throwing chairs, knives and insults at each other on “The Jerry Springer Show”?

Tune in to find out. Grade: C+

Video of the Week

PLEASANTVILLE, written and directed by Gary Ross. Running time: 116 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for sexuality, mild adult content, language).

Gary Ross’ “Pleasantville” takes a satirical look at moral perfection, sexual repression and traditional, gender-based roles through the lens of a fictional, black-and-white, 1950s television show.

Called “Pleasantville,” the show features a cast of characters so ridiculously perfect, uptight and moral, they make the cast of “Father Knows Best” look as if they were raised in a red light district.

Still, for bookish David (Toby Maguire), who lives in present-day America and comes from a badly broken home, this confectionery never-never land is something of a tonic, a place he can look to where Mom will always love Dad, dinner will always be served at six, and everything — apparently — will always be all right.

Or will it? When David and his slutty sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) are literally transported into “Pleasantville” (it’s worth renting the film just to learn who sends them there), they not only lose their identities and become characters on the show, but they quickly learn that the world David once idealized is actually a soul-less void of overwhelming imperfections.

Ross, who wrote “Big” and “Dave,” thankfully wants more from “Pleasantville” than just heartwarming fantasy. He wants us to know that in spite of our problems, we’ve nevertheless grown as a society.

When David and Jennifer begin challenging the people of Pleasantville to give in to their repressed passions, color begins to spring to their cheeks — which prompts relief from some, and rampant discrimination from those who will always fear the unknown.

In spite of its preachy ending, “Pleasantville” is a good film marked by its performances and wit. Grade: B+

Christopher Smith’s film reviews appear each Monday in the Bangor Daily News. Each week on WLBZ’s “News Center 5:30 Today” and now on “News Center Tonight,” he reviews current feature films (Tuesdays) and what’s new and worth renting at video stores (Thursdays).