The boys are back. Did 4 years passed by just like this (snap)? 4 is but a number. I love the guys through all 8 seasons of HBO's Entourage (2004-11). Laughing at their rambunctious antics every week, I feel like I was living the ultimate Hollywood wet dream fantasy vicariously through these 4 buffoons. Yes, they are buffoons. No doubt about it. It is just that one buffoon is handsome but dim, another is directionless but has a heart of gold, another is a Lothario without suffering any consequences (well, not earth-shattering ones like contracting AIDS) and a final one who is still everybody's favorite loser whom we are always willing for him to succeed. Through them we get an inside satirical look at the Hollywood system, its salacious activities and well-known actors playing themselves sprouting F-bombs. It is never meant to be serious and what the TV series was is a whole lot of extreme and harmless fun. Did it warrant an upgrade to a wide-screen feature film? Can the exploits be bigger? Sadly, no. This literally feels like a typical 20-minute TV episode plot-line squeezed into a runtime of 1h 44min.
When the series ended, Vince (Adrian Grenier) was headed to Paris to marry a woman he had just met. Ari (Jeremy Piven) quit his job as a successful agent and was moving to Florence with Mrs. Ari (Perrey Reeves). Eric (Kevin Connolly) and his on again off again girlfriend Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) boarded a plane to New York, since Sloan was moving there because she was pregnant with Eric's baby. Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) was riding high on the success of his vodka company. And Drama (Kevin Dillon) was still waiting for his big break. In this outing Vincent Chase, together with his boys are back in business with Ari Gold on a risky project that will serve as Vince's directorial debut. It will be a venture that may either shoot them into the stratosphere or sink them into oblivion.
Doug Ellin's idea of an Entourage film is one word - "excess". His version of upping the ante means more f-bombs, more T&A, more gratuitous sex, more cameos (I lost count of how many after Liam Neeson flips the bird). The storyline feels like the usual "problem of the week" the four chaps tackled week in week out. Nothing in the movie suggests an upgrade from a TV episode. There are no great character arc changes to all them by the end. Everyone of them moves in a familiar pace to a familiar end, as in every storyline in all the 8 seasons.
I may sound like I didn't enjoy the movie and it can't be more wrong. Doug Ellin knows the rabid fan base and understands this is no prize winning film. He serves up a 104-minute TV episode that reminds us fans of what we have been missing for 4 years - the infectious chemistry of the foursome and a narcissistic Ari Gold who rants fiery insults like a machine-gun. IMHO you will only enjoy this if you are a fan but seriously what do I know. I showed my wife only one episode, S01E01 and after that she said she gets it. Last night I am sure she had the loudest and most uproarious laughter every time Drama opens his goatee-d trap and spews his worldly crap. I love her! And Drama!
When the series ended, Vince (Adrian Grenier) was headed to Paris to marry a woman he had just met. Ari (Jeremy Piven) quit his job as a successful agent and was moving to Florence with Mrs. Ari (Perrey Reeves). Eric (Kevin Connolly) and his on again off again girlfriend Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) boarded a plane to New York, since Sloan was moving there because she was pregnant with Eric's baby. Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) was riding high on the success of his vodka company. And Drama (Kevin Dillon) was still waiting for his big break. In this outing Vincent Chase, together with his boys are back in business with Ari Gold on a risky project that will serve as Vince's directorial debut. It will be a venture that may either shoot them into the stratosphere or sink them into oblivion.
Doug Ellin's idea of an Entourage film is one word - "excess". His version of upping the ante means more f-bombs, more T&A, more gratuitous sex, more cameos (I lost count of how many after Liam Neeson flips the bird). The storyline feels like the usual "problem of the week" the four chaps tackled week in week out. Nothing in the movie suggests an upgrade from a TV episode. There are no great character arc changes to all them by the end. Everyone of them moves in a familiar pace to a familiar end, as in every storyline in all the 8 seasons.
I may sound like I didn't enjoy the movie and it can't be more wrong. Doug Ellin knows the rabid fan base and understands this is no prize winning film. He serves up a 104-minute TV episode that reminds us fans of what we have been missing for 4 years - the infectious chemistry of the foursome and a narcissistic Ari Gold who rants fiery insults like a machine-gun. IMHO you will only enjoy this if you are a fan but seriously what do I know. I showed my wife only one episode, S01E01 and after that she said she gets it. Last night I am sure she had the loudest and most uproarious laughter every time Drama opens his goatee-d trap and spews his worldly crap. I love her! And Drama!