Review Roundup: ENTOURAGE Hits the Big Screen

The original cast of the popular HBO show ENTOURAGE is back to reprise their roles in the movie continuation of the show, also named ENTOURAGE. The movie was written and directed by Doug Ellin, who also wrote the television series. The story was conceived by Doug Ellin and Rob Weiss.

ENTOURAGE follows the story of movie star Vincent Chase who is back with his boys Eric, Turtle, and Johnny along with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold to complete a risky project that will serve as Vince's directorial debut.

ENTOURAGE stars Kevin Connoly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, Jeremy Piven, and Emmanuelle Chriqui.

Let's see what the critics had to say!

A.O. Scott, The New York Times: By the time it reached the end of its HBO run in 2011, "Entourage" had grown staler than last night's Axe body spray. The passing of a few more years has not improved the aroma. Watching the movie is like finding an ancient issue of a second-tier lad mag - not even Maxim, but Loaded or Nuts - in a friend's guest bathroom. You wonder how it got there. You wonder how you got there.

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Still, even good s can go stale. But there's no "tumble fall," hinted at in the Jane's Addiction song that opened the series. I'm OK with Entourage onscreen because it's really a victory lap for a cast that once earned our DVR-ready affection. To echo Perry Farrell: "Yeah! Oh, yeah!" As for the haters? Hug it out, bitches.

Andrew Barker, Variety: At no point does anyone involved with the film ever take this too seriously, and as long as one takes it in the same spirit, it's perfectly enjoyable. Writer-director Ellin has clearly put every penny of his production budget up onscreen, and each well-photographed frame is suffused with shiny consumer goods and bright colors.

Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair: With cameos from the likes of Chad Lowe, David Faustino, Bob Saget, and Jessica Alba, the movie often seems more C-list than it probably wants to. (These particular cameo jokes, about also-rans wandering around Hollywood, bumping up pathetically against solidified talent, worked much better on TV.) But Entourage still has some undeniable shine to it-if you squint hard enough this might actually be what a certain kind of movie star's life looks like. That cheaply alluring Hollywood sketch is tempered by a surprisingly endearing post-credits scene, helping the Entourage movie retain the series's soft-heartedly sleazy appeal. I think this is probably the last we'll see of the guys, which is a good thing. But I can't lie and I say I didn't find myself guiltily enjoying their boorish company one last time.

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Like the weather in L.A., it's hard not to warm to the boys-in-babeland tone of "Entourage." This big-screen version of the hit 2004-11 HBO series is like a male version of "Sex and the City," another HBO show/movie about a quartet of randy pals. "Entourage" plays like a solid, if slightly too long, episode. But even given the bloat, the cast's easy camaraderie and a "play it as it lays" atmosphere wins you over.

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: What plot there is hinges on the guys having to beg a Texas yokel financier (Billy Bob Thornton) for more money on Vince's film, although the message can pretty much be boiled down to this: Entourage, the show and the movie, is about five insanely lucky knuckleheads who have each other's backs in a town that's more likely to stab you there.

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: Four years after Entourage wrapped its eight-season run on HBO, the boys and their testosterone-fueled fairy tale are back with a big-screen escapade. The good news/bad news for fans who've been jonesing for more of Vincent Chase and Co. is that they'll find this winking depiction of the Hollywood fast lane the same as it ever was. From its look to its episodic rhythm, the movie plays like a compressed season nine - a season that has its moments but wouldn't rank among the show's finest.

Benjamin Lee, The Guardian: Credit is due to Entourage creator Doug Ellin for producing a solidly entertaining summer comedy. It is, like the first Sex and the City film, one extended episode, but then what else would it be? Ellin doesn't try to make the Entourage movie anything the TV show wasn't, and he also pays lip service to fans but converts to the small-screen version will be minimal.

Mark Hughes, Forbes: Entourage hits town this weekend, and it's exactly what it says it is, and what you should expect it to be: a big-screen version of the hit HBO television series that ran for eight mostly-acclaimed seasons, garnering lots of awards along the way. In this day and age where everyone gets nostalgic for whatever happened five minutes ago and every old TV series gets revived by a streaming service, it was inevitable that Entourage would finally get revived for the big-screen after four long, grueling years off the air.

Josh Lasser, IGN: After the movie is done almost apologizing for the way the series ended and getting new folks up to speed with Vince and his friends, Entourage offers up a strong tale and a bunch of laughs. The biggest weaknesses it sports are its need to find places to fit every character and its desire to retread Eric's love life. When it sticks to what it has always been best at, the relationship of these four friends, it is as good as the series ever was.

Photo Credit: Official Facebook

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