Review: Entourage

So…yeah…“Entourage”…a lot of people really like this show, huh? Okay, this should probably be made clear upfront. I could never get into the HBO series. In my eyes, the characters were all tools, the dialog was never very witty, and the overall tone was, for a lack of better words, douchey. My biased opinion aside, there is a diehard “Entourage” fan base out there that will probably enjoy this feature film continuation fine. As for me, well…at least it’s not a “Girls” movie.

The entire gang is back with Kevin Connolly’s Eric, a talent manager who sleeps with countless women who are all taller than him, Kevin Dillon’s Johnny Drama, a washed-up pervert, Jerry Ferrara’s Turtle, a former assistant who’s gone from chunk to hunk, and Adrian Grenier’s Vincent, an actor who’s life is perfect in everyway. Vincent isn’t content with just being a successful movie star, though. He wants to direct his next film, which will cost over $100 to make. This would be a potentially interesting concept if only these individuals were more appealing.

Here’s the problem with the entire “Entourage” franchise. In addition to being good-looking, famed, and talented, Vincent already has everything. With a limitlessness supply of money, yachts, cars, mansions, and women handed to him on silver platters, he makes Jordan Belfort’s lifestyle look modest. It’d be one thing if he had to fight for everything he has, but Vincent basically just allows his manager turned studio head, Ari Gold, to do all the heavy-lifting.

As with the show, Jeremy Piven’s neurotic Ari is the saving grace here. That’s primarily because he’s the only one making sacrifices and dealing with setbacks. This leads to some inspired scenes with Travis McCredle, a billionaire investor’s son played by Haley Joel Osment, who apparently gained all the weight Turtle lost over the past decade. Although this obnoxious Texan doesn’t know jack about movies, he still feels the necessity to give Ari notes. If “Entourage” was solely about Ari trying to maintain his job, marriage, and sanity, this may have been something special. Sadly, he’s only in 20% of the movie. While Ari’s out soaking up all the humor, the rest of the guys casually deal with minor relationship troubles that aren’t as fascinating as they think.

“Entourage” is often described as the male version of “Sex and the City,” which presented a glamorized, unrealistic version of New York life for women. With the “Sex and the City” series and even the first movie, though, there was at least some legitimate conflict the four leads had to overcome that amounted to entertaining comedy and drama. “Entourage” is nothing more than a man’s fantasy where everyday is a party, the ladies are all sex objects deprived of personalities, and you never have to take responsibility for anything. If you look past the beautiful Hollywood landscapes and the even more beautiful celebrities, you’ll find that there’s little substance.

A few funny moments and cameos aside, “Entourage” isn’t for people seeking an insightful, well-structured comedy. It’s for people that want to step into the shoes of the rich, famous, and shallow. That’s why the characters are mainly empty shells with few identifiable dilemmas. If that sounds cool to you, head out to the theater. Everyone else, stay home and watch “Silicon Valley.”

Grade: C- 

Nick Spake is a graduate of Arizona State University. He has been working as a film critic for the past ten years, reviewing movies on his website, NickPicksFlicks.com. Follow him on Twitter @NSpake.

Alyssa