Entourage: Season Four Movie Review

When it comes to rooting for a television character, screen actor Vincent Chase is an easy choice. The focal point of the punchy, profane Entourage, Vinnie (Adrian Grenier) is laid back, loyal, great with women, and superstar rich. Maybe we dig him for all those reasons. Or perhaps it's because he lives a lottery-ticket dream while we drool from afar. As we wipe our chins during Entourage's fourth season, the series continues what it does well, and even suffers through some appropriate Hollywood artifice.

Season 4 is all about Medellin, the overblown Pablo Escobar epic Vince has been dying to make. As the season begins, the film -- a lame attempt at Scarface by way of Blow -- is finally rolling in Colombia with Vinnie and his ever-present homeboy trio (the dependable Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, and Jerry Ferrara) in tow.

If you enjoyed the backstage brouhaha of season 3, pitting Vince and his morals against a studio demanding he play Aquaman again, then entering season 4 is a bit of a letdown. The Medellin production isn't intense enough to hold average fans, nor funny enough to pass as good satire. The main quartet is likable as ever though, and Rhys Coiro continues to add a good dose of vitriol as tortured filmmaker Billy Walsh.

Once back from Colombia, the series follows its tried-and-true tracks, alternating between inside-scoop Hollywood dirt and mad male attempts to chest-pound and get laid. It's a consistently entertaining formula, but it feels a bit thin after 50 episodes (as a regular fan, I'm grateful for the changes made in season 5.) At the core of the plotlines are Walsh's attempt to get Medellin into the Cannes Film Festival and an interesting relationship between E (Connolly) and actress Anna Faris.

Pivotal to all the shenanigans is Jeremy Piven as uber-agent Ari Gold, the sort-of typical Hollywood glory boy who eats nails and excretes steel. Piven is so good as Gold that he's made the character a cultural icon in just a few short years, winning three Emmys in the process. Ari is a loyal friend, like Vince, and a doting family man, but his seething temper and horribly crude humor make him a perfect fit for the fellas from Queens. In season 4, he's faced with E's growing role as Vince's manager, a rich narrative conflict that continues to impress through season 5 too.

Aside from being the ultimate television boys' club -- without trying too hard -- Entourage raises eyebrows with an onslaught of big stars and cameos, a source of pride for the show's producers that's evolved with time. Season 4 standouts include Faris, Gary Busey, M. Night Shyamalan, and a riot of an appearance by Peter Jackson.

Credit the series' writers, led by creator Doug Ellin, for beginning the season with the making of Medellin and ending it with its big overseas premiere; that's some solid start-to-finish storytelling for a TV series. The future brings a more mature Entourage, but for season 4, the guys find plenty of time to stay rich and keep buyin'.