When Good Shows Go Bad: Entourage

[TMC]

http://www.wewantinsanity.com/am2/pu...ntourage.shtml

By Peter Dawson Jun 22, 2015 - 8:29 AM

I'll be including the Entourage film in my summer blockbuster season recap later this year (most likely the end of August as something I can prepare in advance for the week I'm at PAX Prime, but the timing works out), but I will mention here that don't let the critics fool you, the movie is absolutely fine... but only if you like the show. Speaking of the show, this one holds a special place in my heart as its one both myself and quite a few of my friends enjoy and have watched together, plus it was one I managed to get into on the ground floor, a rarity for me and HBO programming. None the less I'm in no way blind to this show's fundamental and eventual flaws, thus the title.

The History

Doug Ellin ( Kissing a Fool), much like the characters of Entourage themselves, got lifted from obscurity to fame seemingly by chance. After writing a few small films and being a staff writer on the short-lived Life with Bonnie sitcom on ABC Ellin ended up attached to a semi-autobiographical project produced by Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Ted, The Other Guys, The Departed). The story goes that Wahlberg had been told that his friends (namely people he'd effectively brought with him when he became a big star) were hilarious, and so the idea of creating a sitcom based around the friends of a fictitious rising star was born. First airing in 2004 on HBO, the show would go last ninety six episodes over eight seasons. Entourage ended up being nominated for twenty-six Emmy Awards, winning six (for Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Mixing), plus a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor (hard to do as it usually goes to the star of a TV film or Mini-Series rather than a show) and Peabody.

The Show

Vincent 'Vince' Chase (Adrian Grenier) has managed to go from starring in terrible commercials to starring in films making tens of millions at the box office on opening weekends, thanks in no small part to his agent Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven). Eager to reward his friends, Vince ends up employing his friends Sal 'Turtle' Assante (Jerry Ferrara) and Eric 'E' Murphy (Kevin Connolly) as his gofer and manager respectively while his older half-brother Johnny 'Drama' Chase (Kevin Dillon), a fellow actor who'd been living in Los Angeles longer, also tags along. The wild and crazy life that is living in Hollywood is explored as Vince hits highs and lows while Drama tries desperately to be more than a glorified extra, E tries to actually enjoy a real relationship with a woman (despite hanging around unrepentant womanizers that he himself at times hates to admit he belongs with) while also trying to succeed on his own as a manager, Ari tries to dominate Hollywood as one of its most powerful men and Turtle... well, he's just looking for lots of money and a good time.

The Good

Arguably the most unique thing about Entourage (and thus the thing worth mentioning first) is the general sense of realism despite the insanity that occurs. That might seem contradictory, with realism and insane crossing paths, but this is the point: it's a sitcom that highlights the insane yet ultimately true stuff that can happen to famous people in Los Angeles. A big part of the nature of the show is that characters tend to run into celebrities and act like generally isn't a big deal, thus leading to some celebrity cameos that are little more than a, “What's up?” it's a minor thing, though it helps since HBO has the clout to get the people to turn up at all and it really helps sell the authenticity. Beyond the cameos agents, producers, directors, screenwriters, studios and more are all well-represented, and the complicated issues that can erupt just trying to get a film made are often on display as pre-production is a huge focus of the show (especially early on). While you still get goofy storylines like Turtle wanting to make sure he passes a drug test for a video game tournament (is there a better definition of First World Problems?), very real unusual plots like Vince making a commercial exclusively for Asian markets do also occur (same episode as it happens).

The characters are interesting as while they're all easily called *********s (I'll be expanding on this in the next section naturally) they all have fairly admirable qualities. Vince is in many ways the beautiful dreamer, truly believing in doing films for the art and not wanting to do a project whose script he thinks sucks. The simple way Vince approaches problems in a very naïve way is none the less quite charming, something Grenier I don't think ever gets enough appreciation for (though overall he's not exactly a great actor, no question). E is the everyman realist who doesn't want to put up with how rude everyone is, plus he wants to be more than just a barnacle attached to Vince. Turtle, well, you have to admire his loyalty and simplicity, plus when his ambition finally kicks in we really get to see him go for it. Drama is arguably the most sincere of the main four, proud of the relatively pathetic work he's done and demonstrating the very human frustration of being a man who seems to be constantly passed over, while at the same time hilariously pathetic at points. Ari, however, is easily the best character on the show. Fast-talking, wise-cracking, seemingly always loaded with about a dozen cups of coffee and approaching work like a warrior going into battle, Ari is phenomenal to watch. If he were simply over the top however Ari wouldn't be the character that won Piven three Emmy Awards. Possibly the most humanizing moments for Ari are when we see that despite being a rage beast that was no doubt pushed out of the womb of whatever unfortunate soul Satan knocked up, he is still mortal. Family is a big deal for Ari, his love for his wife, his children and his demonstration that Vince is more than just a client to him fully flesh him out. Add in the fact that Ari does not simply bend to pressure but snaps back, as well as the fact that he arguably hast the most consequences for his actions when he goes too far and he's definitely one of the best characters in television history.

Finally the general storyline of Entourage is pretty solid. While Turtle has little to do, the first season follows E's plans to make something more of himself, Drama's attempts to get a big gig, Vince's next project after managing a legitimate box office hit and Ari's fears that the next project Vince wants to do may be a bad move for his career. Season 2 sees the challenge of trying to jump-start Vince's possibly fledgling career when his only salvation is something he's initially resistant to, and later the complication of a romance on the set, plus the agent sharks come to circle and Ari isn't having it, his family becoming more prominent. Season 3 Vince has to balance studio obligations with passion projects, Ari faces a possible career meltdown and Drama finally gets some success. Season 4 Vince ends up financially strapped and his fate ends up hinging on a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Season 5 is arguably where the show best intersects with Mark Wahlberg's own life, as Vince's career is in serious jeopardy before getting a key role in a Martin Scorcese film. Further storylines include substance abuse, rehab, heart attacks, holding deals and even a suicide, giving plenty of areas explored for, well, drama.

The Bad

Like I said, the main characters are *********s. Now, Ari can arguably get away with this because this aggression is a nature thing, designed to make sure he survives in a cutthroat world, plus despite his apparent expressions of sexism and homophobia it's fairly clear it's bluster. The rest of the guys meanwhile are pretty damn shallow. Vince is pretty unapologetic about how shallow he can be, only really falling for a small handful of women and effectively ditching the women he's with when the excitement is gone. While Turtle can genuinely be a nice guy when he tries he's frequently happy to go to any lengths to basically trick a woman into having sex with him, though he also crashes and burns a lot. The later seasons of character growth for Turtle were really for the best since early on not only was he a borderline (if not actual) sex offender but he was a wee bit racist too. Drama basically never dated anyone, and given as a man hovering around forty years old or more still happily objectifying women and being more than a little creepy (trying to force an onset romance with Brooke Shields was painful to watch, and I'm a Drama fan) that was actually a shame since this was the one part of his character that always seemed frustratingly flawed. Finally, E. Oh man, did I grow to hate E. Only someone like Sloan (Emmanuelle Chriqui) could put up with this guy. Despite trying to act above the womanizing ways of his friends E happily indulged in his behavior many times, also frequently treating his way too loyal girlfriend Sloan like dirt (treating moving in with her like no big deal, constantly blowing her off, not talking to her about stuff that could affect her). Again, major redeeming factor was this often blew up in his face. To put a point on it, the show shoots to be a male fantasy show, so the objectification of women was gonna happen period, but at points it really got kind of awkward, especially to the detriment of the central characters.

Season 7 of Entourage is where things really started to go wrong, though Season 6 wasn't exactly the most amazing of seasons either (pretty average really). Now, in theory Season 7 is awesome from a dramatic standpoint: we see Vince start to downward spiral after a near-death experience makes him an adrenaline junkie who soon wants to just live every moment like it could be its last, while Ari has to deal with one of the biggest opportunities of his career not only blowing up in his face but taking his family with it. Unfortunately the result is relatively laugh free and at times just unpleasant to watch, taking away from the show's general charms. Now the drama could still make the show work but unfortunately without the laughs the weaknesses in the performances were more apparent and the blandness of some characters would just ebb out. Vince without charm was just a complete drug-addled ********* (a plot that dragged most of the season), Ari without the hilarity was just an unpleasant angry man and even director Billy Walsh (Rhys Coiro), originally a nutty spoof of Quentin Tarantino, was now just this sort of neutered, mild guy. Sasha Grey also showed up, further adding to the blandness given the apparently lack of emotion the woman was able to project into her performance, and you've got drama more bland than an argument at a WASP dinner table.

Season 8 was generally a better season, but the big issue was a lack of finality. Now, the Entourage film did eventually fix the problem of the show ending relatively abruptly by offering a bit more (and while open-ended it worked better), but as it stands it wasn't really until the end that you got any impression the show was on its final season. Ari separated from his wife only to realize his family is whats most important in his life was nice, and Turtle becoming a millionaire thanks to fortunate meetings only possible due to his connections with Vince and his own growing competence were fine. Vince wanting to do something nice for Johnny really felt a bit odd for a final arc, so perhaps it was a mistake for him to meet the woman he'd marry halfway into a truncated season. E likewise managing to win back Sloan yet again after lying about sleeping with her former stepmom didn't exactly endear him more to people. The film ended up effectively undoing most of the final arcs, with Vince getting his marriage annulled (though he remained friends with his former wife, apparently), E having once again broken up with Sloan (due to the stepmom thing), and Ari coming out of retirement. The film even recycled the Johnny plot a bit, with instead of Vince writing something for Johnny to star in he got him a major supporting role in his directorial debut, making a good chunk of the final season pointless. Such a shame.

The Blame

Really hard to say who is ultimately at fault here, but it's probably the writers. Entourage, while ostensibly a dramedy, had gotten some attention in its later seasons for the dramatic elements, so the writers perhaps were so keen to mine for good drama they didn't realize that they were straying too far from the wheelhouse. It also seems like when approached with the possibility of the story ending the crew wasn't sure how to end things while obviously still leave the story open (since as a sort of biographical show the adventure would always continue, unless everyone died). Essentially Entourage is a great example of the problems with writing real life as a series.

So can I recommend it? Yes, though like I said this will probably play better for men than women. While Entourage is an enjoyable fantasy show it is unapologetic in its nature to a fault, though at the same time the humor and drama really make it something special. If nothing else my one time I delivered food to a movie set can attest that what I saw does pretty much show up on the show, meaning reality at times can be stranger than fiction.

[king of comedy]

Thanks for the warning and I'm glad I never saw that show. I can see why the movie bombed big time.

[MDE427]

It doubled its budget ..... so not sure that'd be a 'bomb'. It wasn't a blockbuster, no - but it was a 90 minute movie based on a popular TV show from HBO; we're not talking Star Wars / Batman / Avengers / Harry Potter genre here. It cost $27M to make and the film grossed $50M overall, so I think it did alright.

It was too short, and, really needs to be back on the air rather than movie adaptations. It does much better with more back story to it - it needs a slow build up and a season ending conclusion. It is one of the best written, and smartly acted TV comedy/drama "dramadies' ever made, and laid the groundwork for so many shows to follow it.

While I would LOVE to see the show come back full time, I will take what I can get, and I will watch any number of movies they decide to put out. They should make it an annual release thing and shoot one of these each year.