Entourage (Rated C)
Cast: Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Connoly
Genre: Comedy
Dwight's Rating: 2.5 stars
Four years after it went off the air, "Entourage", the popular HBO comedy series, springs back to life in theaters. Never watched the show? Well, never fear! Even the television promotions for the new film proclaim that you don't need to have watched the program to enjoy the movie. And that probably is true. But make no mistake about it, this movie is designed to be a treat primarily for the biggest "Entourage" fan.
That person would not be me! Although I did watch it every once in a while, I was turned off by the materialism and over-sexed, juvenile nature of fictitious actor Vincent Chase and his band of merry-men. They always struck me as vain egomaniacs more concerned about Vince's playboy celebrity, than with him becoming a serious thespian.
This movie continues to explore the latter, which was a recurring theme in the TV show. Vince (Adrian Grenier) and his pals follow him around as he's offered the leading role in the first production of his former agent, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). But Vince insists on directing the film. And things get out of hand when the flick goes way over budget.
Does that sound like much of a movie plot to you? It isn't. There really isn't much of a story here. The little conflict there is could have very easily been resolved without much incident.
Frankly, this reunion, or whatever this is, really had no business being on the big screen. It is certainly much more suited to a TV show about Hollywood, and it always feels like you're watching an extended episode of the show. Perhaps it could have been a special TV movie on HBO?
Things aren't as bleak as that may all sound; there are quite a few fun and enjoyable moments. It's quite interesting to see seemingly every single Hollywood actor/celebrity and professional athlete except, ironically, the usually ubiquitous Samuel L. Jackson or Morgan Freeman in this movie. As was the case with the TV show, Jeremy Piven is among history's greatest scene-stealers. We see once again why he won three consecutive Emmy's for his performance with the TV series. Piven is and always will be the very best part of "Entourage", and is the main reason to watch this totally unnecessary movie!
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