Official Synopsis
Movie star Vincent Chase (Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) and Johnny (Dillon), are back…and back in business with super-agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Piven). Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood with hilarious antics.
I can see why people panned this movie. I can understand why it didn’t survive long in the theaters. It’s a movie extension of the show. It’s a two-hour epilogue for a show that was hugely popular and funny. It is nothing more, nothing less than all of these things. Is that bad? If you have kept up with Entourage, this isn’t a terrible thing. It’s a fantastic piece to the puzzle. If you haven’t kept up with the show, then the most you’ll garnish out of it is amusement and maybe a hankering for going to explore the show.
Either way, it deserved a bit more credit than it received. Let’s get right to it.
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The first act of the movie is basically dedicated to getting back into the groove of the characters. There is a slight, just slight, re-introduction to everyone and where they are in life now. Vincent (Adrian Grenier) is on his way to a divorce, while shifting his focus from acting to directing. Eric (Kevin Connolly) still acts as Vincent’s manager and producer, while trying to find himself through lots and lots of sex. Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon) is still hanging in there as an actor and trying to get the ultimate prize of an Academy Award. Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) has dropped weight and is in the process of refocusing his life to make it better. Lastly, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) has jumped back into the movie making game, though shifted from being an agent to running a studio. All of these character reminders makes up a healthy act one, as well as introducing the gimmick to push the entire story along, which is Vincent’s movie Hyde.
The first act tips its hat enough to remind the audience how much fun the show used to be. It drives home the point that there is still fuel left in the story’s tank, albeit only a quarter of a tank. It gives us a healthy reminder of how charming, intriguing and funny all of these characters have been over the years and that there is still much potential in them for at least the next two hours of the film. That is act one’s perfect set up for the rest of the movie. Also, it introduces the antagonist of the story with Texas millionaire Larsen McCredle (Billy Bob Thornton) and his son Travis (Haley Joel Osment), who are subtle assholes. Of course, they are merely transportation devices to keep the characters fresh and provide motivation for the movie to keep churning out plot points.
As act two opens, Vincent’s movie is causing Ari’s first year as studio head to be a stressful one. Eric, the movie’s producer, is constantly asking for more money, which translates to Ari having to ask Texas millionaire Larsen McCredle for more money. This causes a rift in Ari’s relationship with the gang, Ari’s wife, played by Perrey Reeves, and forces Larsen to send his son Travis back with Ari to Hollywood to follow the film’s progress before Larsen lays down another dime. Once back in Hollywood, Ari realizes how good Vincent’s film is, but can’t convince Travis of that due to a tiff between Travis and Vincent (won’t give that away). Travis from this point on makes it his personal goal to ruin the film, as well as Vincent, which branches out to affecting the rest of the Entourage crew.
Act two is a simple television-esque plot point. The evil person with power is trying to undo all that is perfect. This is probably what made critics nuts when this film first hit the theaters, as it brought nothing particularly special or outstanding to the table. While it still is an intriguing dilemma, the predictability of how it’s all going to turn out is thick. We all know that Travis’ issues with Vincent aren’t going to last. We also know that Vincent’s Hyde movie is going to survive, though the film doesn’t reveal its hand on how that is going to happen, but it’s going to happen. I will say that I agree with some of the criticism that the main plot point is weak at best, but the humor built around it works fine. In some ways it makes up for the weak story, as the group is so damn entertaining and so very well defined. Even as someone who didn’t dedicate any of their life to watching the show, I kept up with who these folks were and why the series was so entertaining, all through this film.
As act three pushes towards a beautiful crescendo of laughs and conclusion, and it does conclude well at the very end, it’s tough to ignore why people didn’t like this when it came out. It’s a bit pretentious in a lot of areas, especially the obnoxious celebrity cameos (though, it’s mimicking real life in Hollywood, I’m sure), as well as weak in story. Having said that, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fun to watch. The humor is there, the characters are brilliantly played for one last time and if you’re going to end a show on a fun epilogue, this is the way to do it. The movie is figuratively throwing its hands in the air like it just didn’t care, and that is the charm of the show.
Overall, Entourage’s epilogue was a fine goodbye to its long run on HBO. If you didn’t see the show, you might be lost in the forest for two hours, but you’re going to have a little bit of fun as you make your way out of that forest. People who know the show are going to be entertained.
On the Blu-ray side of the equation, as usual Warner Home Video knocks it out of the ballpark. Still leading other studios in terms of Blu-ray transfer quality, WHV doesn’t hold back, even for an epilogue movie. Much like the glamour of Hollywood life, the visuals for this movie are crisp, clean and larger than life in some areas. There is absolutely no imperfection in the transfer and with the right television this movie is going to shine visually. Definitely one of the better looking Blu-rays that I’ve had the pleasure of watching.
In terms of special features, here’s what you’re looking at:
– The Gang – Still Rockin’ It
– Hollywood, Baby!
– The Making of Hyde
– Deleted Scenes
– Gag Reel
– Meet the Newest Member of Entourage
– Lucas Ellin is Jonah Gold
For a movie that didn’t last long in the theater, this is surprisingly a nice list of features. They add much needed value to the package. Kudos to WHV for adding some motivation to snag this Blu-ray.
Onto the summary!
