ED TV stars Matthew McConaughey as Ed Pekurny, Jenna Elfman as Shari, Woody Harrelson as Ray Pekurny, Sally Kirkland as Jeanette, Martin Landau as Al, Ellen DeGeneres as Cynthia Topping, Rob Reiner as Whitaker, Dennis Hopper as Hank, Elizabeth Hurley as Jill, Clint Howard as Ken.
ED TV in a word is Fluff. Ron Howard, finally made a bad movie. ED TV is predictable and shallow. Martin Landau, Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman, Sally Kirkland, and Dennis Hopper carry their character well. The casting of too many stars makes this one of the movies where name recognition is supposed to make up for the lack of a story.
Did I say story? Well, every movie has one. The story is about a cable network in need of ratings. Truth TV searches for a real person to follow 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They find Ed a 30 year old, living at home and working in a video store. Just another dysfunctional family to parade in front of the world. It's as if Jerry Springer had only one guest for the next several months. Not quite, but close. Ed falls for his brother's fiance. Ray is caught cheating with a secretary for an exercise equipment company. Their sister only needs an excuse to pick up a guy in a bar, while their estranged father shows up only after Ed is famous. It doesn't stop here Ed's mother is remarried to Al, who lives on a Lark scooter. She also has one more time for old times sake sex with her ex-husband only to have him die during the act.
The laughs are few and far between the attempted jokes. Ellen DeGeneres, who is a good comedian , just not in this movie, also has a very shallow part. The movie also seems to be directed toward women or men in touch with their feminine side.
I give it 2 out of 5 hampers: