Review: Entourage movie is one for the tragics
THE big-screen version of Entourage is here to give old friends a dose of that addictive hedonism they’ve been itching for since the show went off the air.
Leigh Paatsch
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Entourage (MA15+)
Director: Doug Ellin (Kissing a Fool)
Starring: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Haley Joel Osment, Billy Bob Thornton, Emily Ratajkowski, Emmanuelle Chriqui.
Rating: **1/2
If you are going to enjoy Entourage as a movie, let’s just say you had to be there.
Where is there, exactly? Any or all of the eight seasons Entourage played on TV between 2004 and 2011.
People either loved this hangin’-out-in-Hollywood phenom on the spot, or hated it with a passion.
The big-screen version of Entourage is no different.
It is not here to make new friends. It is here to give old friends a feature-length dose of that addictive celeb hedonism they’ve been itching for since the show went off the air.
Me, I’ve been in love with all things Entourage on a guilty-pleasure basis for over a decade.
I’ll freely admit the movie is really just four late-model TV episodes bolted together to meet pent-up demand, but it more than fits the bill. I suspect 99.9 per cent of Entourage fans will feel exactly the same way.
So let’s take a look at the who’s-who and the where-they’re-at as this reunion commences in earnest.
Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) is still (perhaps inexplicably) one of the biggest movie stars on the planet, and remains the blazing sun at the centre of a solar system of lifelong buddies, fleeting one-night-stands and assorted halfwit hangers-on.
Vinnie now also has designs on becoming a director. However, his behind-the-camera debut has already chewed up its projected $100 million budget, and still is nowhere near finished.
The incomparably inflammable Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) is going up in flames over the blowout. He’s no longer Vince’s agent, by the way. These days he’s running the studio footing the bill for this potential debacle.
Vinnie’s manager and best friend Eric (Kevin Connolly) is, as always, trying to keep the peace and get the movie finished in spite of Ari’s ever-intensifying panic attacks.
Vinnie’s older brother Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) is also in his usual state of personal meltdown. Word has trickled down that his prominent role in his sibling’s movie could be hitting the cutting room floor. Should that happen, Drama’s already burnt acting career will be totally toast.
And as for the Chase team mascot Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), well, he’s now a hell of a lot richer and thinner than you may remember.
There is no real need to relay any further plotting for Entourage, as storytelling is not this movie’s strong suit.
With so many supporting cast regulars to cram into the mix (including fan fave Lloyd, the best gay friend Ari will ever have) and a truckload of B-list celebrity cameos to cover, there’s just no wiggle room for shock narrative departures or fresh character development.
The franchise’s depiction of women is still as sub-PC as it ever was — and the inside jokes at Hollywood’s expense are not as funny as they once were — but these and many other shortcomings are of little consequence here.
All that matters to true Entourage tragics is that the 24/7 party’n’premiere lifestyle of Vincent Chase and his posse is continuing, both unabated and unrepentant.
ENTOURAGE PREMIERE IN HOLLYWOOD
Originally published as Review: Entourage movie is one for the tragics
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