“Entourage”
Directed by Doug Ellin
Warner Bros.
2.0 / 5.0 paws
SPECTRUM GALLERY: Entourage movie premiere
In some far off, destitute fantasy landscape known as 2004, Doug Ellin decided to create a television show that should have done for men what “Sex and the City” did for women. That is, provide a quirky analysis on gender traits and friendship, while simultaneously lambasting the stereotypes of meritocracy and romance in the upper class.
He failed miserably. This isn’t a claim that “Entourage” was one of the worst television shows ever created – it definitely had its moments, mostly in the earlier seasons. But it’s at least in the running for mankind’s silliest, most chauvinistic creation of the 21st century. “Entourage” the movie is the same way, an above average script for Ellin’s original show, cringingly extended beyond its capable reaches.
All of the highlights that “Entourage” can muster lie within its general premise and the caricatures of male civilization that are spread throughout. There’s Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), the aspiring movie star in his late 30s, Eric “E” Murphy (Kevin Connolly), his socially inept best friend and manager, Johnny “Drama” Chase (Kevin Dillon), Vince’s embarrassingly fratty half-brother and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Vince’s old friend without a definable personality.
Together, they make up the main four members of the titular entourage. Throw in the fifth, breakout boy: Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), Vince’s ever uncongenial agent, as a newly established movie studio head, who has to figure out how to fund Vince’s directorial dream project “Hyde” when it goes significantly over-budget.
The hard thing to swallow about “Entourage” as a person who either has or hasn’t seen the TV series, is that the film never seriously attempts to be theatrical. The movie mainly consists of the boys getting themselves into antics that either don’t matter or are too ridiculous to be taken seriously. “E” deals with his near unintelligible relationship to the pregnant Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Turtle tries to court Ronda Rousey (playing herself) for some reason and “Drama” continues his usual routine of complaining about every woman that doesn’t notice him.
Per usual, Piven’s boisterous performance, as a man who goes out of his way to romp around studio lots yelling at celebrities, remains the interesting one. Have any of these characters learned a single thing over the last decade of playing in fake Hollywood? No, but the loathsome charm that brought them this far continues relentlessly.
Ellin taps into the nostalgia factor by giving each of his characters enough punchlines and sex-fueled moments of comedy to make the film tolerably entertaining. Each celebrity cameo, as shallow and clichéd as the next, either recalls a bit part on the show or introduces an expectedly famous personalities such as Bob Saget, Tom Brady and Liam Neeson to the gang for a quick sight gag. “Entourage” is a movie that knows what kind of fan service it wants and starts vigorously feeding it candy and alcohol.
What “Entourage” doesn’t know, however, is what the general public wants. By no means does “Entourage” have anything meaningful to say about the celebrity lifestyle – topless women seem to constantly have sex with “E” and Drama because they’re men, not because of anything regarding their actual personas. The film brandishes itself as a parody on Hollywood without ever actually commenting on the falsities of Hollywood – that’s an achievement in and of itself.
“Entourage” has its target demographic already – a group that, so far, has been able to overlook the offensive ideas of a few half-witted men that admittedly turn up more than a few strong laughs. In 2015, the “bros before hoes” ideology doesn’t come across in a favorable light. But in 2015’s self-indulgent version of 2004 television, it appears to be fair game.
– Sebastian Torrelio