Movie review 'Entourage': Watching television in public

Entourage is the franchise-extension of the hit television series of the same name

Update: 2015-06-20 01:43 GMT
Still from the movie Entourage
Cast: Kevin Connolly, Adrien Grenier, Jeremy Piven
Director: Doug Ellin
Rating: 2 stars
 
Doug Ellin’s Entourage is the franchise-extension of the hit television series of the same name. This is the most definitive, essential characteristic of the film, for it determines how it is engineered: the writing of its lines, the choice of its character’s struggles, the light in which each of them are seen — all of these are coloured by the fact of the television series’ existence. Television, by nature, is a reservoir of mythologies — (successful) shows and series usually have a considerable run, often lasting many years (or more poetically: seasons). This allows them to cultivate an autonomous fictional universe with indigenous logic, icons, rituals, running gags and, of course, personalities. I suspect the major audience for a film like Entourage — the section that it is made for — are the existing fans of the show, individuals well-versed with the rules of this universe.
 
As a result, the manner in which the film is constructed (and therefore, the experience of watching it in a theatre) is identifiably tribal: a movie for those who can finish its lines for it — and strangely ceremonial, in that it feels like watching TV in public. Vincent Chase (played by Adrien Grenier, who displays no evident reason for his in-film stardom) is stuck by an artistic epiphany (actually, mid-life crisis): he only wants to do meaningful cinema — and direct it himself. His trusted cabal, led by one-time agent but now a studio head, Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven, very good), helps him get the resources together. It is a multi-million dollar production, so Gold has to struggle to convince the studio to let a debutant director take over, but he manages. Chase takes his time on the film and goes overbudget. Everyone is nervous and Gold’s job is on the line, but the rough cut of the film allays his anxiety — it is a masterpiece and all is good, until the financier’s son decides he doesn’t like the film and prepares his own set of notes on how to improve it.
 
Gold takes it upon himself to protect the film from this vulgar interference. It is an interesting idea, to use the film (which remains unseen to us, save one scene) as a metaphor, a large indication of the group’s internal dynamic. A film studio is run by egotistical tycoons, hotheads, all extremely nervous about the recovery of their investment — as a result, the people on the lower-rungs must look out for each other, establish relationships and networks that allow them to survive. 
When Gold — who really is the protagonist — decides to protect Chase’s film (even if it is only to self-validate), he is, in fact, articulating how much he values their friendship (“we’ve been together fifteen years”). 
 
Unfortunately, Ellin cannot explore this relationship (or the relationships between the film’s other characters) with complete sincerity, or without irony or comment. 
His is a writing stuck by the fear of excluding his mythical audience. It is not enough to merely turn a new page in the lives of these characters, to let them evolve, grow into men and become responsible; it is also important to include the existing fans of the franchise within the story. 
 
As a result, Ellin chooses to strengthen the martial nature of the group: their behaviour is set in identifiable patterns; they talk in bro-codes; refer to each other by call-signs and plan collective conquests of hot nymphets and big cars. All of this assigns the film an extremely limited, adolescent nature: it’s not a surprise that the major conflict in the film — that between Chase and the financier’s son — turns out to be a “over a girl”.

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