ENTOURAGE (B)

The Bottom Line:  Stars!  They’re just like us…except they’re not, ever – like seriously, not at all.  An extension of the popular eight-season HBO series (2004-2011), Entourage is a romanticized, snarky, tinsel town four-buddy bromance fueled by sex, power, wealth, fame, ambition and brotherhood.  And like the series that preceded it, this movie is a surface level look behind the Hollywood curtain – a world where hot-head derogatory agents throw fits, Victoria’s Secret-ready beach babes roam topless and supportive yes-men friends ride coattails.  It’s the big screen west coast, boy band ying to Sex and the City’s Manhattan cattily snobby yang (Flix and the City, Pecs and the City – I don’t know, there’s a pun in there somewhere – I’ll keep digging).  In addition to the entire cast being summoned back – take special note of Jeremy Piven who is a serpentine-like fireball revelation in the role of Ari Gold (he won three Emmys and a Golden Globe for playing this character on television) – they’ve also brought back the show’s penchant for never raising the stakes too high.  In that respect, the movie doesn’t play very cinematically – instead, it feels like a three episode, greatest hits mish-mash with plenty of laughs, a few flat misses, a ton of cameos and a decidedly glossier budget.  I can totally understand easily offended newbies being turned off by the vulgarity, nudity and extravagant douche-baggery on display – if you’re open to tons of crassness and the frenzied celebration of excess (or a fan of the show like me) then this’ll be a welcome visit with new/good friends.  Not friends you’d want to spend too much time with…but friends nonetheless.  Outside of not completely upping the narrative ante, Entourage nearly met my expectations: It was breezily over-the-top, entertaining and fun.  Open the pages of a supermarket check-out magazine and you’ll experience much of the same.  It’s US Weekly: The Movie.

Starring: Jeremy Piven, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Billy Bob Thornton and Haley Joel Osment

Directed by: Doug Ellin (series creator)

Rated: R

Running time: 105 minutes

Story: Entourage," the much-anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning hit HBO series, reunites the show's original cast, led by Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven. 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. (C) WB

Official site: www.entouragemovie.com