The boys are back! Is that a good thing? Who knows! Yes it’s time for Vince and his mates to get into more capers for another 90 minutes in this big screen continuation of the TV show.

If you’re not familiar with the show, Adrian Grenier plays movie star Vince Chase. For eight seasons it tracks his rise to fame, and the lives of his ‘entourage’ - his brother and two friends he brings along for the ride.

Here, Vince has decided to direct a blockbuster film. It’s way over budget and the financiers are reluctant to write another cheque. One of the big money guys (Billy Bob Thornton) sends his obnoxious son (Hayley Joel Osment) to see an early preview of the film and decide on its fate.

For better or for worse, Entourage plays out like a long episode of the show. Fans are likely to be happy. The problem is that it’s not like a good episode of the show.

The pretty women and cameos come in thick and fast to cover up the fact that nothing is happening. These boys no longer have problems, they’ve got it made. That’s kind of fun to watch for five minutes but it’s got a very short shelf life.

The performances are the same as ever, funny and charismatic but two dimensional. Jeremy Piven clearly enjoys himself and still manages to get genuine laughs. Everyone else is in the film for less than one minute.

This is far from the train wreck critics have laid it out to be, however it’s definitely a project that didn’t need to happen. It’s a gilded, bikini-clad, celebrity-filled waste of time.

http://benoliver999.com/film/2015/06/15/entourage/

As a standalone movie, I'd imagine this feels like Hangover Part 10... I'm not sure they could have crammed in any more celebrity cameos into that run time so I'm quite surprised they managed to reheat a few old episode plotlines and jam them in too!

There are a couple of positives... The first of course is that we get to see a cast of characters that we know and (mostly) love come back to life for a while. The second is Hayley Joel Osment who is an absolute joy and dare-I-say-it underused!

The negatives - completely undoing much of the satisfaction at the end of the series only to tread old ground half as well. Sloan and E (did they dip the beautiful and elegant Emanuelle Chriqui in mahogany wood paint before each of her scenes?) was a sad rehash of a tired trope from series. Ari and Melissa - again, have we not been here many times before. Vince - still an absolute wanker so no change there but it would have been nice to see him redeemed more effectively from being such a shitty actor and character.

I thought some of the choices of direction were very weak - like the zooming in on Ari's face as he launches into one his brilliant tirades. The show didn't have it and the film didn't need it. Write a solid 6 episode arc and film it as a movie... They did everything but the solid bit.

Overall it is a must see as a fan of the show - and that's the only reason they made it, let's face it.

(I think it's sad that none of the stars have gone on to other things but it does make for a strange time-capsule/alternate-reality where Vincent Chase might just be a Hollywood star)


6/10

> Inside the Hollywood, from the young generation perspective.

The original series had a quite successful run for almost a decade. I haven't seen that, after seeing this film now I want to try it. So this movie is like a bonus episode for its fans, and for the cast and crew it was a reunion for the one last time. But I want a sequel, because I kind of liked it without familiarity with the original story and its characters. Anyway, it did not give me any trouble in understanding, particular this story. But obviously I know I am missing something in those scenes that directly has something to do with the series.

What a simple tale about the film industry. It actually centered on a bunch of Hollywood actors and producers. When a lead actor wanted to direct his next film for the new production house, he gets a green signal, but the problem arises after production halts in the half way due to exceeding the original budget. All the struggle they go through, especially the studio head who acts between the filmmakers and their financiers is what narrated in this film.

I don't know what they thought of this those who saw the series, but to me it was a pretty good comedy. Because I had no pressure to expect or to compare it with the original material like they do. The cast was wonderful. I got quite an unexpected and enjoyable twist. Since it was related to the motion pictures, some big film personalities' cameo brightened the overall film. If you want your watch to be a perfect, go through from the beginning, but like I did, you too can have a good time without viewing the series. That's not a recommendation, but a small suggestion.

7/10