Save money on ‘Entourage’ and ‘XXL,’ but check out ‘Earl’
“Entourage”
Vinnie (Adrian Grenier), E (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Drama (Kevin Dillon) reunite for an extravaganza of excess, picking up where the HBO series left off. What the show’s creators don’t seem to get is their pro-bro lifestyle has evolved into arrogance and bratty behavior. Or maybe everyone gets it, and they just don’t care how these characters are perceived. As always, the true gem is Jeremy Piven, who is so good at playing agent Ari Gold that Ari Gold has become an adjective to describe a fast-talking asshole. Piven also gave us the phrase, “Hug it out, bitches.” There’s nothing as memorable here. Even though everyone showed up, it feels like the party is over or at least winding down. One reunion was okay, but let’s call it a wrap for this band of bros – barely worth a watch for fans of the show.
“Magic Mike XXL”
“Magic Mike” was a surprise. It dipped into the drama of strippers. There was levity. The plot had swayed yet had grit, and bonus ladies, Channing Tatum and some hot dudes pulsated and throbbed and played their six packs like xylophones. In this sequel, the boys come to Myrtle Beach for a strip off – double bonus. Well, not really. It takes them forever to get here. The director of the first film, Steven Soderbergh, stepped down and let Gregory Jacobs take the helm. The results are a feel-good road trip where principle actors (Matthew McConaughey and Alex Pettyfer) from the first film don’t return. They pick up Jada Pinkett Smith, whose shtick gets old after awhile, and comedian Gabriel Iglesias, who you barely realize he’s there. Donald Glover does make a bit of an impact. Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer return with Tatum to up the hunk factor, but the magic is lost. The filmmakers have a false belief you can make a movie about stripping without much stripping – barely worth a watch.
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
Sometimes, a little movie just grabs you. Here’s a great example. Jesse Andrews wrote both the novel and the screenplay about a trio of high school seniors who don’t quite fit in to any of the cliques. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon skillfully captures the quirkiness and awkwardness of kids becoming adults. In this case, he does it by crossing stories like “The Fault in Our Stars” with hints of retro filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson, just not quite as eccentric. The three outcasts here are played deftly by the young actors – Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler and Olivia Cooke. Molly Shannon, Connie Britton and Nick Offerman do a nice job filling out the second tier cast, and Jon Bernthal shows no part is too small by knocking it out of the park as an influential teacher. This tightly wound story makes for a memorable movie and really worth a watch.
This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Save money on ‘Entourage’ and ‘XXL,’ but check out ‘Earl’."