Entourage (2015) * * 1/2

Directed by:  Doug Ellin

Starring:  Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Kevin Connolly, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, Haley Joel Osment, Billy Bob Thornton, Rex Lee, Perrey Reeves. Emanuelle Chirqui

Throughout the eight season-run of the HBO series and now the feature film of Entourage, my main beef still is:   What is all the fuss about with Vincent Chase?     I thought maybe the film version, fleshed out over two hours, might show us some semblance of why everyone makes such a big deal out of him.     Not the case.    We see a clip of a futuristic thriller in which Chase stars and directs.    Based on that clip alone, it seems like the type of movie to which I would attach a one-star review.
In this movie, the film is nominated for multiple Golden Globes.     We see more acting out of Johnny Drama (Dillon) than we ever do out of Vincent Chase.

It is pointless to argue this issue and I suppose I have to take it on faith that Vincent Chase (Grenier) is talented enough to deserve the hype.    With that said, Entourage is pretty much paced and written like the series.     I enjoyed the series for the most part, so the movie is satisfactory, albeit not inspired entertainment.     The characters aren't any deeper or more complex.    We see the parties with hundreds of nearly naked women hanging around like window dressing.      Do they all think they're going to sleep with Vincent that night?    If Vincent can somehow master that, at that rate, he will demolish Wilt Chamberlain's claim of having slept with 20,000 women.

Entourage opens a short time after the events of the series finale.    Vincent is married and divorced all within a nine-day span.    He is very, very over budget on the aforementioned film called "Hyde", which is set amongst the pulsating beats and lasers of a nightclub.     It looks like the love child of Blade and The Matrix, which is how it was pitched I'm sure.    There is a lot of shooting.   Heads explode and blood flies everywhere.    John Wick has a better shot at a Golden Globe nomination than Hyde.     I recommend that Vincent and company sleep in on the morning the Oscar nominations are announced.

Vincent's former agent Ari Gold (Piven) is now the head of the studio financing Hyde.    He is talked into becoming a producer as well.    It is quite a suspension of disbelief that Piven would look at this film and not immediately scrap it.    The film's financiers, a father and son (Thornton and Osment), aren't nearly as impressed.     They ask for a re-edit and for Johnny Drama's scenes to be cut.     This presents a mild crisis for Vincent, who of course would love to give his older half-brother his break.

Osment provides the closest thing to a villain in the movie.     He is a smarmy weasel who doesn't want to finance a crappy picture.     He even locks Vincent out of the editing room.     Based on what I saw of the movie, he may be doing the audience a favor.     There are also plenty of cameos, including Liam Neeson, Ronda Rousey, and Mark Wahlberg (who is the executive producer and continues his streak of starring in every movie released in the past two years).     The cameos, like the ones on the show, did not portray the stars in a flattering light.     Rousey agrees to go on a date with Turtle (Ferrara), if she can survive for thirty seconds in the ring with her.     She breaks his arm, but hey people have done worse in the name of love.    

Despite the above misgivings, Entourage rolls along quickly and keeps us entertained enough.     Kevin Dillon remains a guy we hope will one day get the chance to escape his brother's shadow.     Piven is at his wicked best as Ari, the studio head with a very short fuse who explodes into colorful diatribes against the poor guy on the other end of his phone.      He remains loyal to Vincent and proves he is the agent with a heart...sort of, when he agrees to be the best man at his friend Lloyd's gay wedding.     We also become involved in Eric's (Connolly) entangled love life.     Vincent, at least, seems like a pretty cool guy despite his elite Hollywood status, so we don't begrudge him success.

The thing I can definitively say about Entourage is that if you liked the show, you will like the movie.     Watching the previous eight seasons episodes is not a prerequisite for those coming in cold.     The film is not too inside, so those not familiar with the Entourage universe won't have to fret about not being able to follow along.      Was Entourage necessary?    I say probably not, because the show concluded more or less satisfactorily.     But necessity is definitely not needed to be the mother of invention in Hollywood.     All you need to do is observe the number of sequels and remakes spit out by the studios each year.