Brief Reviews: Entourage

June 1st, 2015, 9pm

It was 16.1°C with overcast. The breeze was light.

If you’ve considered seeing the new Entourage movie — based on the HBO show that ran from 2004-2011 of the same name — and you’ve either fallen in love with or felt a camaraderie for any of the entourage themselves, this movie is for you.

It’s hard not to write spoilers for those eagerly awaiting the return of Vincent Chase to the big screen — after all, getting him there was the basic premise of the entire show. The shortest synopsis is to say that unlike many shows < cough> Sex &amp; the City < /cough>, Entourage is the successful two-hour series finale long time fans have been waiting for.

Back are the lewd jokes about women. Back are the women teaching men that making lewd jokes doesn’t get you ahead in life. Back is Vinny Chase with his pouty smile and blue eyes I want to jump off a springboard into. Back is E, picking up the ladies… sorry, but that isn’t really a spoiler, is it? Best of all: back is Ari Gold, living the dream more than ever.

Ari is my personal favorite character from the show, and I believe Jeremy Piven may never lose his inner Ari, if after four years he can still fall so seamlessly into a character that you really want to hate despite his big, golden heart. (Had to make a gold joke, sorry.) Piven doesn’t totally steal the show, but he gets damn close; as with most of Entourage, the movie’s plot hinges as much on the antics of Adrian Grenier as Vincent with his gaggle of lovable misfits (I almost feel like I’m describing the Muppets) as it does on Ari and his moral arc. Yep, this movie has a moral arc.

Other endearing performances: Jerry Ferrara as “Turtle,” slimmed down and slightly more humble despite his ascent into the higher echelon of L.A. society; Rhys Coiro back as the always-nerve-wracking Billy Walsh… I spent every scene with him in worried what he might do next; and Kevin Dillon as Johnny Drama. Drama is still slinging demeaning comments about women, but as usual, he gets both his comeuppance and his redemption by film’s end.

Perhaps most notable for its lack of emotion is the story of E… sweet, charming Eric Murphy and his on-and-off-again partner Sloan (played by Emmanuelle Chriqui) who should pull at your heart strings but is continually upstaged by the antics of Turtle and the heart-wrenching moment where Drama realizes “we’re about to have a baby.”

Shit. Spoilers. My bad. I didn’t say whose baby, right?

As usual, a story about a movie star isn’t really about the movie star. Grenier’s Vincent Chase is charming per usual, but most of the important things revolve around him, rather than focusing on him. That’s the way it was with the show, and as it should be in the movie.

If 90% of the names I just mentioned don’t mean anything to you, it’s okay. This one isn’t for you. This one isn’t for the directorial obsessives or cinematographic artists. This one is for the good ol’ boys and girls who love a few jokes they wouldn’t repeat to their mother, and those who’ve waited eagerly for the Entourage to take one last ride.


David Wade said thanks.

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Valerie Stimac

Constraints create lots of great things, diamonds and creativity among them.

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