For all its flaws, and it had more than most would admit, you couldn't fault The Truman Show for lack of ambition. Even if it didn't deliver on all, or even most, of its premise's potential, Peter Weir's film at least appeared to be trying. EDtv, Ron Howard's somewhat similar comedy, mostly remains content to entertain in standard mainstream-comedy fashion, a fact that works against it far more often than in its favor. A well-cast Matthew McConaughey stars as an unambitious, overaged video-store clerk chosen to star in a 24-hour TV show of his own life. Constantly followed by camera crews, McConaughey finds himself forced to confront personal issues related to girlfriend Jenna Elfman and his family, including brother Woody Harrelson and mother Sally Kirkland. EDtv is a film of two minds, one an almost-pleasant-enough comedy, the other an almost-biting-enough media satire. Unfortunately, the two make for an odd match, and neither half compensates for the failings of the other. What's worse, whatever true satiric value EDtv might have had—and given that the script comes from Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel of Fathers' Day and City Slickers, that might not have been much—seems to have been carefully excised. The rate at which characters drop in and out of the story suggests too much editing, as does the fact that the set-up never truly gets the chance to develop into a story. It does, however, continue Jay Leno's dubious sideline career playing a meaner version of himself in movies, and may offer your only chance to see Elfman look crestfallen after finding herself on the receiving end of a catty barb delivered by RuPaul, for what that's worth.