Why So Blu?

Entourage: The Movie (Blu-ray Review)

Over the years, many people whose opinions I don’t trust told me Entourage was a good show. After I watched a second random episode, I pretty much got the gist of it and felt like I didn’t need to see anymore. I read just a little while ago that creator Doug Elin wants to produce two more Entourage films. After watching the first feature film, I have the same reaction I had with the television series. I left the theatre and thought, “I’m good on any more Entourage films.” If Elin wasn’t able to say anything with the first film, I doubt he’ll improve the second time.

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Film 

Picking up just days after the series ended, Vinnie is getting a divorce, E and his pregnant girlfriend, Sloane (Emmanuelle Chriqui) have split, and Ari is now the studio chief, whose first film is a 100 million dollar retelling of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” simply titled “Hyde” directed and starring Vincent as the title character. Reimagined as a DJ. It’s every bit as horrible as it sounds. For every interesting thing the film gets right, it cancels it out with something lazy. For example, we never see any of the film being shot, it jumps right to the post-production stage of the Vinnie’s film. But instead of organically telling the audience what is going on with the characters, we’re treated to a lazy ten minute Piers Morgan segment, spoon feeding us the information Ellin assumes we need in order to continue watching. That’s in the very beginning of the film, and it only goes downhill from there.

Watching the film, I was curious to how it was such a huge success. The four leads are unbearably dull, a vacuum that sucks the life out of every scene they’re in. They have no charisma, no screen presence, and no chemistry with anyone on screen. What’s worse, they don’t even seem to be trying. Ronda Rousey may not be the greatest actress, but at least there’s a strong energy that she brings to her scenes. She seems to be having a blast, and as a result, it illuminates every minute she’s on screen. Each of the four leads have some issue they’re dealing with, and honestly, none of them resonate at all, at least not when compared to the scene stealing Jeremy Piven, who tears through every frame like a thundering bull. This is his film, and every line, every reaction is pitch-perfect. It’ understandable why he won three emmys. His character, Ari Gold, has to visit Texas to negotiate for a few million more dollars necessary to finish the film. Billy Bob Thorton and Haley Joel Osment are the billionaire father and son, and if the entire film was dedicated to these three, I wold have enjoyed it a whole lot more.

After four years off the air, I would expect a feature film to do something interesting with the characters. Even having only watched two episodes, it’s clear that no risks were taken.

I went to my high school reunion two years ago, and it was sad to see how many of them hadn’t grown up. They still live in the glory of adolescence, complete with fist-bumps and beer-bong worshiping. On weekends, they slip on a muscle t-shirt and venture to the bars to drunkenly accost women while drool oozes from their lips to protruding gut. That’s not unlike watching “Entourage: The Movie.” It might have been cool at one point in time, but now it’s just gross and pathetic.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Clarity/Detail: This is about as good as it gets in terms of clarity. Ever bit of the good ol LA is crystal clear. This is a vibrant film, and every spec of Tinseltown warmth will make you want to reach out to it. This is one hell of a good looking Blu-ray.

Depth: You’ll be able to see all the background characters in full detail, as well as the magical Los Angeles smog.

Black Levels: All the black levels are appropriate, nothing that seems too light or too dark.

Color Reproduction: As I mentioned, this is a vibrant film, sometimes teetering close to artificiality, appropriate for the subject matter. It’s almost like someone throwing fruity pebbles in your face. With the after-sickness included, of course.

Flesh Tones: All the flesh tones are completely natural.

Noise/Artifacts: Nope.  No issues here.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English: DTS-HD MA 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Dynamics: Like the video, this is about as good as it gets. Which means you get to hear clearly a lot of bad music. The DTS is piercingly clear, with every Ari outburst sure to make your ears bleed.

Low Frequency Extension: Doors slamming, people getting punched, Ari breaking stuff, and of course the music, sound great from the subwoofer.

Surround Sound Presentation: You’ll believe you’re in Hollywood, with noises coming from every corner of the room. You have your own…entourage surround sound.

Dialogue Reproduction: Fear not, you’ll hear every letter of the award winning dialogue.

Extras

Entourage comes with an UltraViolet Digital Copy of the film and the following supplemental features.

The Gang: Still Rockin’ It (HD, 14 minutes)

Hollywood, Baby! (HD, 8 minutes)

The Making of Hyde (HD, 5 minutes)

Deleted Scenes (HD, 19 minutes)

Meet the Newest Member of Entourage (HD, 2 minutes)

Lucas Ellin is Jonah Gold (HD, 2 minutes)

Gag Reel (HD, 3 minutes)

Summary

Look, we didn’t need this. It’s not clever, it’s not original, and it’s not entertaining. I hope the Gods of Film save us from future installments. The good news is that if you absolutely have to watch the Blu-ray, at least the sound and video are the best money can buy.