There's no doubt about it, Ron Howard knows his trade. His new movie, Edtv, can be read on all different levels, but my take is that it's an innovative love story.

The story, like "The Truman Show" concerns a 24/7 tv show that is apparently so riveting people suspend their own lives to become voyeurs. Well, so what? That's why there are soaps--and aficionados certainly act like the onscreen characters are real.

In EdTV we meet Ed, a video store clerk whose life is not all that exciting, but he's suddenly catapulted to fame when studio producer Ellen DeGeneres selects him from the great unwashed masses to be the star of a show that will chronicle his every move.

It all starts off rather slowly, but you know things are going to heat up. They have to, because unlike EdTV, this movie has a 2 hour time frame, and we demand things like development of plot, climax, and resolution. And of course there we get them. But not before Ed becomes a hero: He can't do anything without the world watching, people start to follow him around, tabliods comment on his life, etc. etc. and so forth.

EdTV differs a lot from "The Truman Show." Truman's director, Peter Weir, moralized heavily. We were supposed to ponder the deeper things in life and maybe even reflect on the evil gluttony of television. EdTV is far more gentle in it's prodding of teevee lore. Director Ron Howard's commentary on the box is more subtle and probably more effective. We know that these characters aren't real, but they might be.

In fact, there's many a "might be" to this film. It might have an autobiographical tilt for example. Ron Howard, after all, grew up on television. We loved him as Opie and then as Richie. No doubt Ron's life is a little like Ed's only drawn out over a longer period of time. And there is a sibling relationship worth pondering. In EdTV Ed and his brother Ray are close, but not without their problems. Ray would have liked to have been the one to be on tv all the time, but instead, he's forced to cash in on Ed's fame.

Ron's brother, Clint, is also in this movie. In fact, he has a bit part in all of Ron's movies. In this film he has dialogue that relates little to the plot, almost as if Ron decided it was time for his brother to get more screen time. Then there's Ellen De Generes as the producer of the live television show. In what might be considered some semblance of reality, she used her own sitcom as a forum to publicly announce her sexual preference. So teve and reality have parallels that are readily apparent and interesting to ponder.

What is also apparent is that the social commentary inherent in this movie is very real. Television does have a special kind of lure. Bad teevee seems to be even more appealing, and the media hype is most interesting of all.

The casting of EdTV is very fine. Indeed, it's hard to isolate a particular cast member, since the ensemble is remarkably strong. Matthew McConaughey is absolutely made to play the role of Ed and Woody Harrelson is equally superb as the brother Ray. Then there's Martin Landau as the stepfather and a cameo from Dennis Hopper as the real father--both great! I found Jenna Elfman a bit ho-hum as the girlfriend Shari, but I think she's meant to be the maligned girlfriend. And the "evil woman" syndrome is a bit heavy handed here, but, it's a movie.

I liked EdTv. It's not a brilliant movie, but it is interesting to be tossed back and forth between the serious edge of social commentary and simple romance meant to be enjoyed at face value. And it is entertaining.