Entourage

Both shameless and shamelessly entertaining, this relentlessly boyish movie carries on exactly as the TV show left off after its eight-season run. In fact, it actually feels like a ninth season was condensed into 104 minutes, as it carries on with the same misogynistic approach, leering at women while laughing at the inappropriate behaviour of men. But these guys still have their charm, and when they get together the screen lights up with snappy banter and a hilariously knowing depiction of how crazy life is within the movie industry.

It's been four years since we last saw them, and Vince (Adrien Grenier) is just out of a disastrous marriage, yearning to direct his next movie, a raving sci-fi take on Jeckyll and Hyde. As luck would have it, his loyal ex-agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) is now a studio boss, so he lets him make the movie with his best pal Eric (Kevin Connolly) as producer, his older brother Johnny (Kevin Dillon) in a key supporting role and his pal Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) as their driver. But the Texan moneybags (Billy Bob Thornton) is dubious about all of this, and sends his know-it-all son Travis (Haley Joel Osment) to keep an eye on post-production. And Travis has some ideas of his own, much to everyone's horror.

While the rather bland Grenier holds the centre as Vince, the rest of the characters are given subplots to run with. Ari is in marriage counselling because he can't tear himself from his work; Eric goes through a few more women while preparing for his ex-girlfriend to give birth to their child; Johnny hopes this small role might finally kickstart his career; Turtle pursues a relationship with MMA champion-turned actress Ronda Rousey; and Travis is jealous of how much time Vince is spending with model-turned-actress Emily Ratajkowski. None of these plots have anywhere to go, but they pass the time amiably.

As he did with the TV show, writer-director Doug Ellin never bothers to create even a semblance of a character arc, basing most of the humour on the frankly apalling attitude these guys have toward women. If the actors weren't so likeable, the film would be deeply offensive, but the depiction of idiotic masculinity is just as insulting. Meanwhile, the film is so packed with starry cameos that it's impossible to count them. So even if the story never goes anywhere interesting, the film is enjoyable for what it is, taking the audience through a series of wacky mini-adventures that are witty and sometimes emotional. And it's clearly set up to run and run.