when i first saw the previews for ron howard's latest film , my expectations were discouragingly low . a show about nothing ? sounds like " seinfeld . " a guy whose entire life is broadcast 24 hours a day ? sounds like " the truman show . " what is it with hollywood that no sooner than one production company puts out an animated feature about ants , another puts one out about bugs ? which is why i was pleasantly surprised by " edtv , " which turns out to be a fresh , insightful , and often times hilarious film about the follies of instant celebrity . the writing , by howard's longtime collaborators lowell ganz and babaloo mandel , is right on the money and howard himself should be credited for giving the subject matter a fresh focus . in the hands of a less-experienced director , " edtv " could easily have had all the flavor of yesterday's meatloaf . with their 'true tv' cable ratings being threatened by 'the gardening channel' ( apparently people would rather watch soil ) , the northwest broadcasting company is looking for a novel concept to attract viewers . program director cynthia topping ( ellen degeneres ) comes up with the idea of putting a nobody on the air and broadcasting his every waking and sleeping moment . the hook is to find a regular guy , someone normal that people can relate to . while scouting possible candidates , cynthia's camera crew discover ed pekurny and his pig brother ray ( woody harrelson ) in a bar , where ray believes he has what it takes for his fifteen plus minutes of fame . but on watching the videotape , the show's producers are more taken with ed than with ray . he's cute , he says all the wrong things , and he's 100% usda hick . cynthia's boss , played by rob reiner , gives the show a week to deliver the goods and it's tough going in the early stages . the most exciting thing that happens is ed brushes his teeth . " action shot ! " wags one of the production assistants when a couple of pop tarts jump out of the toaster . you get the idea . but soon enough , things--nielsen-boosting kinds of things--start to happen to this unassuming san francisco video store clerk and the 'true tv' cameras are right there to document it . ed's privacy is no longer his own , his newfound fame starts having a negative impact on his family life , and what little dignity he has left is trampled on by the media . who should ed go out with ? you can be sure the pollsters have a list . not only is the film exceedingly well cast , but its performers are consistently excellent . matthew mcconaughey provides the face , the body language , and the lovable texan accent to fill the shoes of america's latest phenomenon . he and harrelson look like they really could be brothers . sally kirkland is noteworthy in a difficult role as ed's mother , and martin landau is one of the film's highlights as al , ed's ailing stepfather . jenna elfman ( from tv's " dharma and greg " ) proves herself surprisingly worthy in the company of kirkland and landau , although those alpine eyebrows of hers get a little distracting . even degeneres and reiner are better than you'd expect . in 1979 , writer/director/comedian albert brooks made a zany little film called " real life " in which a small-time opportunist makes a real-time documentary about a typical american family . the scenes of ed's family sitting around the dinner table feasting on kentucky fried chicken and waxing idiotic play like a big-budget variant on that film , paralleling its wickedly inventive humor . as with most films by albert brooks , " real life " was funny , but absurd . the funniest--and scariest--thing about " edtv " is that it is absolutely believable .
