For a while now I've held the opinion that HBO's Entourage was better than most people realized. Many people, perhaps understandably, were initially turned off by a show that is kinda-sorta based on Mark Wahlberg's early days in Hollywood. And while the show gets some cheap entertainment out of its setting (nudity, jokes about and cameos by real Hollywood personalities), the show is succesful because of its sharp, quick dialogue and the way it portrays male interaction. The way that the titular "entourage" bounces off each other in a combination of competition and fraternity (in one instance literal) is spot on. The show exists by throwing the characters through a series of insults, disses, and arguments but it always holds together--just like a high school sports team or something. And also, as is being noted with increasing regularity, Jeremy Piven ("let's hug it out") is great as the agent Ari Gold. But, despite it's seemingly breezy subject matter--movies, parties, sex, drugs, obscene cars and houses, there's some serious stuff at work. Though the entourage revolves around movie-star Vince (Adrian Grenier) it really focuses on Eric (Jeremy Connolly), Vince's best friend and now manager. Eric is the conscience of the group. He takes his relationships with women seriously, he needs to pay attention to the crew's cash flow, and he needs to make most of Vince's decisions for him. He also, constantly is fighting for respect--both social and professional. His self-image is often the focal point as he contends with how to embrace, and grow beyond, life as Vince's wing-man.
But, as much as the show is excellent for the way the characters interact on an emotional level, it is also hillarious. The scene's with Piven are amazing. The way he goes from zero-to-ballistic in half a second and bounces between arguing with his wife, ridiculing his staff and playing the angles to get what he needs from Eric and Vince is great to watch. And also, as Vince and his crew rib each other, Ari is in a constant battle with all of Hollywood, and the smallest thing--phone tag, for instance, becomes the Battle of the Bulge.
On a final note, Rhys Coiro is great as the indy-director Billy Walsh. The way that they put that character on a totally different wavelength and then sort of crash him through scenes with the others, calling everyone a "suit" or a "she-suit" and being completely condescending and aloof (and also relaxed and friendly), even as he indulges in all the vices LA has to offer, is fantastic.
