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List Price: $39.98 | | Label: Hbo Home Video
Salesrank: 725
Released: June 6, 2006 |
| Our Price: $14.55 |
| Used Price: $8.45 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
After three months shooting an indie film in the Big Apple, the boys are back in La-la-land. Eric is officially Vince?s manager, Turtle is running the house, Drama is hoping to enhance his onscreen assets...and Ari is pushing a blockbuster superhero role for his golden-boy client.
Description of Entourage-The Complete Second season:
The most clever thing producers did with the second season of Entourage, HBO's hip and hilariously accurate depiction of Hollywood, was to take the boys out of Hollywood. Sending star-on-the-rise Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his boys from Queens (hence the title of the show) into places like Sundance and ComiCon created a whole new treasure trove of inside jokes, and for that we thank them. The usual clutter of celeb cameos abound (Hugh Hefner, Pauly Shore, Ralph Macchio,), but one main story arc takes up the entire season: Vincent's casting in Aquaman, the big-budget movie he didn't want to star in, and then had to vie against Leonardo DiCaprio to get. Mandy Moore turns up as the only girl who ever broke Vince's heart (on the set of A Walk to Remember, allegedly) and now re-enters his life as his Aquagirl, while James Cameron makes a few appearances as director of the superhero project. In the meantime, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) goes from moocher to music manager, Eric (Kevin Connolly) gets courted to be a big-time agent, and Johnny "Drama" (Kevin Dillon, ever the punchline) ponders calf implants and gets fired from a Movie of the Week with Brooke Shields. The biggest turn of events, however, happens to Vince's slick agent Ari Gold (an Emmy-worthy Jeremy Piven), who pulls a Jerry Maguire by the end of the season. Ari's ability to switch sides on a dime -- that is, to choke up at his daughter's bat mitzvah, then manipulate the family moment into a publicity stunt to lure his client away from a rival, continues to make Piven the firecracker of the bunch. Grenier is slightly less vacuous than last season, but still has the least interesting personality (which could be the point of the show--that it takes a village to make any Joe Actor into a movie star) .
Unfortunately the DVD features no commentary and just one extra: Executive Producer Mark Wahlberg, on whom the show is based, interviews the cast and producers. The banter is interesting enough, but Wahlberg makes such a dull interviewer it's certain we won't see a talk-show host career in Vince's future. --Ellen A. Kim
Entourage-The Complete Second season Reviews:
Worth watching for Piven and Dillon 
2009-12-23 - I happened upon this at the library; yet another tv series I knew next to nothing of (watching almost no tv will do that). But I've always laughed at Piven elsewhere, and HBO is the best at letting writers write, so I gave it a shot; season two was all they had, so I started here.
I didn't know the backstory of season one but it became pretty clear, and the characters grew on me within a few shows, as the writing is hard to not like--- quick and barbed and crisp. I'd heard that Ari Gold is based on Ari Emanuel, real-life Hollywood sleazebag agent (and brother of Obama's top aide...you do the math), so I was amazed to see how much of a weasel they portray him as.
I was immediately reminded of the classic character Peter Dragon, Jay Mohr's similarly nasty agent in the short-lived cult series Action (worth watching for any fans of this show, and clearly its predecessor). Gold and Dragon are cut from the same cloth, where greed and ego are woven into one slick, shiny surface. Piven is perfect, and very funny at moments.
But what grew on me most as the shows went by was Kevin Dillon's sense of humor. Despite flashing back constantly in my mind to his brother Matt's role in Something About Mary, I found myself looking forward to every line from Dillon. The guy becomes this character flawlessly, and his lines are much more subtly humorous than Piven's. Something about him just cracks me up; his lack of guile is at the top of the list. While Piven gets better lines that are sure-fire laughs, Dillon makes even more of his and ends up being the highlight of the show for me.
The best episode is the one written by Larry Charles, of Borat and Seinfeld fame. Now that's some edgy, funny writing. Watch for it in the middle of the season.
I'll check out the first and next seasons, purely for Piven, Dillon, and the solid writing.
Entourage The Complete Second Season 
2009-12-05 - I purchased this DVD for my daughter for Xmas and I know she is going to love it. The prices and shipping are excellent. Thank you.
Another Great Season
2009-11-21 - Great Season 2 another one filled with laughs but this time it looks like they added more drama into the mix, which makes the show even more interesting. I love this show.
Fascinating!
2009-11-14 - Continuation of behind-the-movie look at Hollywood. Great scripts that never leave the viewers bored. Great casting with believable characters that viewer can identify with. The show highlights beautiful LA where rich and famous hang out and lived. Absolutely fascinating! Season 2 has three disks and the setup is much easier and faster to get to each episode. It has a special bonus feature where the executive producer Mark Wahlberg interviews the cast and other production members. Mark allows his star to talk and doesn't steal the show - what a guy! Great show all around.
I love Yatabe's description: "Sex and the City" for guys...
2009-09-23 - I have no idea how much women may enjoy "Entourage" - I'm also reminded of my brother's description: it's like a he-man woman-hater's club for grown-ups, for those who remember that episode of the old Hal Roach Little Rascals.
Entourage, like other great shows of the past, starts off strong in season one, then in the second season becomes even more fleshed out as the cast and writers become more familiar with their format.
Adrian Grenier's Vinny Chase is coming off filming of the art-house "Queen's Boulevard" and is hoping for another meaty project. He is not particularly interested in donning the glittering suit as Aquaman. Kevin Connolly's "E" continues to grow from former pizza-boy to Hollywood manager - at one point he is recruited by the owner of Ari's agency (played as a magnificent white-haired lion by Malcolm McDowell). Jerry Ferraro as Turtle gets a little more meat - when he recovers their stolen ride from the police pound he finds a hip-hop demo by Saigon in the CD player. Instead of turning in Saigon he thinks the music would sound great on the soundtrack of "Queen's Boulevard" and offers to be Saigon's manager. Kevin Dillon is again miraculous as the bundled mess of anxiety and bravado that is Johnny Drama Chase.
Jeremy Piven stands out in an exceptional cast as Vincent's agent Ari - part Andrew Dice Clay, part Tasmanian Devil. Ari percolates along a hair-trigger away from a volcanic eruption of biblical proportion and you get the idea that he'd sell his own grandmother for a good movie deal.
Celebrity guest roles remain an important part of the mix and you have to give 'em credit - Bob Saget, Gary Busey, Mandy Moore, James Woods, Ralph Macchio and several others play fictional versions of themselves that are hilarious and self-deprecating. (Saget hangs out at the high-class house of ill repute down the street from the Entourage manse, Macchio is quick to drop into a Karate Kid-like stance when challenged... in other words - the celebrity appearances aren't just cameos - they're actually worked into the story, and they're FUNNY.)
