Manfred ThamMovie Review: Entourage
An unnaturally loud whistle from a portly individual behind deafened us as the theatre lights dimmed at the movie premiere of Entourage. But amidst the whooping and cheering, will Entourage live up to its hype? It is the much-awaited continuation of an 8-season long TV show after all.
Topping the TV show’s exuberant lifestyle with further excess and opulence, Entourage follows Vince (Adrian Grenier, who really does look like Josh Peck) and his merry band of bros: Johnny (Kevin Dillon), E (Kevin Connolly) and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara). Vince has become one of Hollywood’s biggest A-list actor but, after a failed marriage, he searches for more in life than girls and greenbacks.
Enter Ari (Jeremy Piven), formally Vince’s agent but now a studio head with a brand new blockbuster project where he wants Vince, his prized actor, to be the lead. However, Vince has a condition: he’ll only star in it if he can direct it, kicking off a ridiculous series of events that birth an award-winning film.
Produced by Mark Wahlberg and based on his own Hollywood journey (minus the violent bits), Entourage at its heart has always been frivolous and light-hearted. In fact, it’s oft referred to as satirical in nature with its over-the-top depiction of Hollywood.
Reviews, however, are divided. Either you love its crass humour and excessive décolletage or you loathe it for every single unenlightened frat bro moment.
The film is unpalatably misogynistic and distasteful with the cast’s gusto when spitting out the word “sex”. The numerous scenes of exposed breasts and overly skimpy bikinis might have undone any feminist goodwill Mad Max: Fury Road has garnered for Hollywood. Add on the cringey sex-focused lifestyle the entourage lead and the film is slapped with its rather forced R21 rating.
But admittedly, the film openly mocks their lifestyle when 2 girls confront E about having sex with both of them in the same day and scare him with (false) pregnancy and STDs. It even has a gay marriage in it with George Takei cameo-ing as the pastor! But then again, they did pre-empt the wedding with cheap jokes about homosexuality.
Piven as Ari is by far the most entertaining of the quintet to watch, his charismatic confidence and baritone voice at odds with his furious bipolarity. Ari’s fits of incandescent rage are all the rage.
After a while, it feels like the movie is trying too hard to be satirical and critical amidst the masturbation jokes. However, beneath the thickly caked makeup of frivolity, bare bosoms and numerous cameos, lies the real beauty of Entourage’s visage.
It has a familiar face; it’s the smile that encroaches when you’re watching a group of friends banter and joke with each other.
Entourage is a surprisingly charming tale of a band of brothers who are always there for each other, for better or worse. Usually, it’s for the worse as they enforce each other’s laziness and “wing it” lifestyle but you can’t help but smile when everything works out in fictional Hollywood.
It’s a superficial movie about living life large with little care in the world with flaws that far outshine its virtues. The exaggerated film about Hollywood’s exaggerated lifestyle might have been too exaggerated. Plus, there was a scene where Ari’s jocular and vulgar rant was randomly censored. It’s an R21 film, what’s up with that?
[xrr rating=2/5 display_as=textstars label=”Our Rating:”]
Information:
Cast: Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillion, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Perrey Reeves, Rex Lee, Haley Joel Osment, Emily Ratajkowski
Director: Doug Ellin
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: R21
Run-time: 104 minutes
Release date: 4 June 2015
Photos courtesy of Warner Brothers
Do you loath or love Entourage? Tell us in the comments below!