Movie Battle: The Truman Show Vs. Edtv

Two movies where the lead characters are being watched by… well everyone, 24/7. When the movies were released, reality television just started and became extremely popular. Today, they make shows about everything. To battle it out, here is “The Truman Show” Vs. “Edtv”.

 

CAST

The Truman Show: Mostly known for his comedic roles, rubber face Jim Carrey takes the lead. And very well indeed. I think this is Carrey’s best performance so far. Laura Linney, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone also take part.

Edtv: The relatively unknown Matthew McConaughey plays Ed and is accompanied by Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman, Ellen Degeneres and Elizabeth Hurley. The cast looks less impressive, but do a solid job.

STORY

The Truman Show: Truman is unaware that his life has been followed ever since his birth. His whole life has been planned out, but he starts to be suspicious. Trying to follow his own path, the TV people try to stop him. It’s a drama, mixed with subtle comedy.

Edtv: Unlike Truman, Ed volunteers to be followed. He is supposed to make the rates go up, but at first his life doesn’t look all that interesting. That soon changes and Ed is loved by many. It’s more of a comedy.

EFFECTS

The Truman Show: Truman lives in a picture perfect town, with picture perfect citizens. It all looks stunning.

Edtv: Nothing special here.

WINNER

It’s kind of a no brainer, “The Truman Show” is without a doubt the better movie of the two.

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 37: Edtv

Director: Ron Howard
Genre: Comedy/ Drama
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Jenna Elfman, Ellen Degeneres, Elizabeth Hurley

Description: Video store clerk Ed (Matthew McConaughey) agrees to have his life filmed by a camera crew for a tv network.

Review: Financially the TV network “True TV” is on lower ground. Their producer has to think of a new formula and comes up with the idea to follow someone 24/7. Ed Pekurney is the lucky guy. At first it doesn’t look like something people will watch, but it becomes a huge hit.
Because of the script and the montage, the film feels realistic. We all know the concept of reality TV, which gets more unoriginal nowadays. But back in 1999 this was groundbreaking. “Edtv” is a fun film about the hype of a real life show. It has a lot of humoristic moments. Off course you compare this film to “The Truman Show”, a movie with a similar theme. “Edtv” is very standard then, but on its own it s surely a very entertaining movie.
The acting is solid, the casting is strong as well. It’s Matthew McConaughy in his early days and he was cast perfectly as the laid back Ed. Woody Harrelson does a good job as brother Ray and Jenna Elfman has great chemistry with McConaughey. Although “Edtv” wasn’t a success in theaters, I enjoyed it and found it very entertaining. And recommendable.

Rating: 3/ 5