PAGE24 THE RETRIEVER WEEKLY FEATURES April 6, 1999 EDtv: Tune In, Laugh Away :Howard's Media Spoof a Randy Ratings Winner JAMillPECK lengths to rake in the numbers - as far as Retriever Weekly Staff Writer arranging Ed to have a session of on-air Iovin' with a alluring model (Elizabeth Hurley). The Andy Warhol-professed notion of 15 These wild ups and downs, while not neces­ minutes of fame seems to have been invented sarily grounded in reality, provide a gener­ for people like Monica 'Lewinsky, today's hot ous helping of yuks and yucks - the latter pop act du jour, and now Ed Pekurny, the when Ed partakes in lovely c~ores like toe­ centerpiece of Ron Howard's new comedy nail-clipping and the reliable early-mom EDtv (***out of four). As played by Mat­ crotch adjustment on the idiot box. EDtv ul­ thew McConaughey, last seen brandishing timately shuns a few of the questions it poses, six-shooters in The Newton Boys about a year but a movie this infectiously genial need not ago, Ed's an easygoing San Francisco video be concerned with the big picture. store clerk whose Southern twang, down­ So fast do the laughs, spoofs and assorted home charm and almost soothing presence gags come that there's little time to take in make him the sort of average Joe you'd like how low-key the romantic angle is - to see good things happen to. In short, he's McConaughey and Elfman click but hardly the perfect tour guide through Howard's gid­ combust, a hindrance which may actually aid dily twisted take on celebrity status. the couple's ultimate dilemma- or that a Sad to say, but such niceties don't exactly . subplot revealing some aired dirty laundry befall our hero, who is hand-picked by a in the Pekumy family past cuts an unfortu­ ' struggling cable network to be the focus of a nate path into soapy melodrama; if I were a live, 24-hour-a-day tel~vi~ion show that fol­ watcher, I'd probably use these parts for bath­ lows and broadcasts his every move - think room breaks and nacho runs. Also, the finale, Universal Pictures of it as a non-stop version of The Real World as Ed turns the tables on the station monsters Candid Camera: In Ron Howard's EDtv, video store clerk Matthew McConaughey without the gloomy roomies and cautious who exploit his should-be-private crises, becomes the focus of a live, non-stop, all-access television program. censors. Oh, sure, things start off on the right lacks the early zip and zest, ending up like a foot, as Ed's without-warning popularity -really long joke that almost blows its ity dining. Dennis Hopper shows up briefly go expecting the wisdom of The Truman sends him on the fast track to becoming punchline. as Ed's biological father, and Howard wisely Show or face dire disappointment. Compari­ ho"usehold name. He gets the ratings, the au­ Luckily, a superlative cast of supporting gives ex-sitcom stars Ellen DeGeneres and sons are inevitable- and maybe just a little tograph hounds and even the sweet fiancee Qddballs as endearing as McConaughey make Rob Reiner plum roles as program honchos, inappropriate given the two movies' varied (Jenna Elfman) of his loutish brother (Woody even the weakest passages something to sit respectively conflicted and conscience-chal­ agendas - but here goes anyway: Think of Harrelson), after the omnipresent camera thlough. Martin Landau gets choice one-lin­ lenged. DeGeneres, for one, has never been The Truman Show as the deeper, smarter and crews catch the latter inflagrante. ers as Ed's decrepit, wheelchair.:bound brighter. more thought-provoking classy cousin to But the luster begins to fade, the media is stepdad ("I've gotta pee. Wish me luck."), So chalk up a hit for EDtv, and let's hope it EDtv's silly, rude and quick-to-please coun­ soon taking national polls regarding the per­ while Sally Kirkland- where's she been, gets renewed for next season. Something so try bumpkin. Ed himself may put the boob .sonallife of this public man, and the Nielsen­ by the way? - does nice work as his white­ fresh, sneaky and entertaining certainly de­ back into boob tube, but it's hard not to like minded producers are going to disturbing trash mom~, the kind that fancies KFC as qual­ serves its share of the viewership, but don't what you see. \ Contemporary Mod Squad Update Plods STUDENTS .. ~ MGM Pictures STOP WORKING JAMIE PECK Young Guns: Omar Epps, Retriever Weekly Staff Writer FOR PEANUTS! Giovanni Ribisi and Claire Danes make up The Mod Squad, a hip There have been Merchant-Ivory trio of delinquents-turned-cops. costume dramas with more of a pulse $8- $15 AN HOUR than The Mod Squad(*), a self-con­ sciously "hip" cinematic rendering of Life, but she's saddled with a mysteri­ PLUS BONUSES the old TV series still looked upon ous-boyfriend (Josh Brolin) subplot so CALL NOW fondly by so many baby-boomers. see-through you begin to seriously 410-247-6900 Well, said Squad certainly won't be a question her so-called intelligence. pleasant viewing experience for them Ditto for Ribisi's (Saving Private or anybody else, maybe even the teen Ryan) looney loose cannon, though at target audience the movie has been least he performs with a wild-and­ WORK AS LITTLE AS geared towards. A contemporary take.. crazy vigor that occasionally demands on this decidedly '70s show doesn't attention. But Epps - poor Epps. 3 DAYS WEEKLY OR exactly seem unwarranted, but one Epps (Higher Learning) is so short­ AS MUCH AS 6 DAYS wonders if the mold it accumulated changed he's reduced to literally wait­ WEEKLY! while waiting on the shelf didn't trans­ ing around for a bad guy to chase him. form into a full-blown case of botu­ All this sloppiness can be attributed lism. to the screenwriters, one of whom, How curious that the film begins by Scott Silver, is also the director. They defining both mod and squad, insist­ must think that if they dress up their ing that the latter is a group of people stupid story in such spiffy trappings working together and then contradict­ (the look of the film is really quite im­ ing this defmition by keeping its titu­ pressive), it'll somehow pay off, but lar trio apart for a sizeable chunk of this Mod Squad plods anyway. Char­ the running time. They are Julie, Pete acters are non-existent; present are just and Line, reformed delinquents work­ some good-looking young things ing undercover for the L.A.P.D. (exposition lot and eventually get cracking to expose this modeling cool Levis and cooler attitudes. Plot put out of the way so fast that you're likely convoluted conspiracy using surveillance tac­ hardly escapes confusing convention. And the to be lost from the opening moments on), and tics that would impress the Hardy boys and one genre element you'd think would show they are respectively played by Claire Danes, Linda Tripp but few others. wpen you're up in generous portions - a few nifty explo­ Giovanni Ribisi and Omar Epps, talented supposed to be asking, "What's going to hap­ sions, some fights, any kind of action what­ actors each deserving of better than this. pen next?", you'll instead entertain thoughts soever - only rarely makes it to this dull Their plight involves standard cop-corrup­ like "Who are these people and why should I gabfest. tion stuff, as our would-be protagonists catch care?'' or "Aren't thrillers supposed to con­ AH those quick to put down last month's wind of an internal cover-up after their supe- · tain thrills?" inept but serviceable My Favorite Martian rior (reliable Dennis Farina, one of the best Not that Danes, Epps and Ribisi don't give need ~o take a step back. Here's ·a small-to­ things here and gone so quickly) gets killed it a shot. Danes can do the troubled teen thing . big-screen translation that reaLLy should've and framed for drug trafficking. They pout a in her sleep, as evidenced by My So-Called stayed in its former incarnation, Mod or not. .