Get ready to hug it out, bros! The Entourage boys are back, and this time
they're bringing their dude-tacular world of hot Hollywood broads, insanely
lavish parties, scorchin' rides, and celebrities to the silver screen, and damn
if it's like the guys never ever left. Seriously, this Entourage is basically three episodes of the
celebrity-adored HBO series that ran for eight seasons and explored every nook
and cultural cranny L.A. had to offer. It's exactly the film fans of the show
could have wanted; it's loud, brash, undeniably sexist, sex-dependent and
pretty juvenile, but like the show it also has fun ripping into Hollywood the
way no other show can.
Mostly though, Entourage is just a Hell of a good time, and
makes you feel like you're hanging out with the guys. Series creator Doug Ellin
picks things up mere days after the end of the show with A-list heartthrob
Vincent Chase (Adrien Grenier) having annulled his days-old marriage; the only
thing to last a shorter time was the retirement of volatile, hostile super-agent
Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven, as snarky as ever), who takes over as head of a major
studio. His first act? To let Vince star in and direct Hyde, a $100M modern
remake of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. Of course it goes terribly
over-budget; how could it not? Has Ari not seen Vince and his friends' life of
ridiculous excess? The film starts with a wild yacht party in the middle of the
ocean. What are they celebrating? Tuesday.
So what about the rest of the crew? Poor
delusional Johnny "Drama"(Kevin Dillon) has a key role in his
brother's film and is enjoying a chance to really act; Turtle (Jerry Ferrara)
has lost a ton of weight and gained a ton of money with his vodka business,
he's also got a thing going with MMA badass Ronda Rousey; and Eric
"E" Murphy (Kevin Connolly) is about to have a baby with his ex,
Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui), but has a ton of other female drama to put up with.
A great scene has him encountering the two women he slept with on the same day,
and becoming the victim of a pretty sweet revenge plot. But mainly this is
about Vince and Ari, who must contend with a Texas billionaire (Billy Bob
Thornton, reprising his role from the series) and his dopey son (Haley Joel
Osment) who have the money to squash Vince's film outright.
Eight seasons' worth of cameos are crammed
into the 100 minute film; everybody from Mark Wahlberg (producer and actual
inspiration for Vincent) to Emily Ratajkowski to Tom Brady to Warren friggin'
Buffet show up and get to be a part of the most elite party in town. Spot 'em
all and win a prize. The army of celebrity guests trotted out would be
distracting if we didn't remember that this is Entourage and an abundance of riches is to
be expected. We also see plenty of familiar faces who had an impact on the
series, like formerly drug-addled director Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro) and Ari's
gay assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee), who is planning a wedding. Yep, expect lots of
insulting gay jokes at Lloyd's expense, but for some reason we accept these
things from Ari. He's the guy we should despise yet can't help but love. If
there's a problem it's that Vince is still such an uninteresting character on
his own. This was an issue for the series, as well. He's so defined by his
buddies that they are the ones we actually care about. They are the regular
guys; they're our guides through this glitzy world we'll never know. What do we
root for with Vince? That he gets to nail another chick? That he gets to make more
money? Who cares about that? It's his friends who have the issues we can relate
to. Longtime fans will appreciate some of the surprising turns those issues
take, as well. 
There is so much going on that the final 20 minutes of the film
is a mad scramble to wrap everything up neatly, and Ellin isn't completely
successful in doing so. Like last year's Veronica Mars film, Entourage is purely for the fans. It's for
those who can appreciate every one of Ari's F-Bombs, and want to see the guys
they watched for eight years get their happy Hollywood ending.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
