Entourage (MA)
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Adrian Grenier
NO-ONE who hadn’t seen Sex and the City the series, would go and see Sex and the City the movie.
And surely the same applies to the much-loved Entourage – Sex and the City for boys.
So it’s puzzling that, as Entourage makes the jump to the big screen, so much time is spent explaining and re-capping character and plot points to an audience assumed to be unfamiliar with the crew.
Just like the series, the movie tells the story of Hollywood superstar Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his motley crew of hangers-on – the entourage of the title.
But somehow, the magic hasn’t survived the translation from the small screen.
There’s a sameness about the movie – but not in a good way.
Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold, super agent to the stars and now studio head, again steals the show.
Perhaps the best scenes feature Vinnie in his movie role (which he’s also directing) of Jekyll and Hyde.
In those brief scenes, the film soars, but remains earthbound for the rest.
There’s a slightly leaden, heavy-handed feel to the directing, as if there was not quite an understanding at the top of what the series was about.
Entourage is about the magic of personal chemistry, that lightning in a bottle among a group of people who on paper should kill each other, but in fact become firm friends (think Clarkson and the Top Gear crew).
It’s an elusive quality, and one that couldn’t be found on the big screen in this case.
– Jason Beck
