"Entourage" Season 2 [DVD]

Back from doing an indy movie in New York, Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and his posse return to LA, ready for their next movie. Focussing on Vincent’s experiences at Sundance and trying to snare the next big comic-book-adaptation, Aquaman.

The second season of this series is leaps and bounds ahead of the first. The first season of Entourage really left me feeling dissatisfied – I found most of the ‘laughs’ fell either flat or very far off the mark, and I found most of the episodes off-putting. True, Vincent’s tourettes-suffering agent, Ari (the impeccably talented Jeremy Piven) was perhaps the only gem of the whole show. In season two he continues to be the main draw of the series, but it is clear that the other actors have become more comfortable in their roles and the characters benefit from this.

Having said that, Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) is still annoyingly feckless and for the life of me I can’t believe the other three tolerate his presence (he’s useless!). His gullibility do encourage a few pranks that were worthy of a good laugh (mandatory drug testing at an Xbox competition, anyone?). Vincent’s brother, Johnny “Drama” (Kevin Dillon) and Eric (Kevin Connolly) have both improved, and Drama has provided a much bigger portion of the better jokes this season. Eric still comes across as a little too fragile and holy-than-thou at times, and finds himself struggling with the position of being Vince’s manager, butting heads with Ari on a number of occasions, tripping up over the surface bullshit of Hollywood – such as the incident involving his lack of a business card or company name, which only lead to complete apathy from other vacuous denizens of Tinseltown.

Entourage continues to bring us a whole new take on the Hollywood lifestyle, showing us that while there may be a lot of parties and gorgeous women, there are still plenty of assholes and bottom-feeders ready to ruin the party for everyone. Unlike my feelings at the close of the rather weak season one finale, I actually find myself eager for some more. If you’re looking for a relaxed, glitzy show who’s characters you can really envy (but feel for at the same time), check this one out.

(The idea behind this show might not really be as new as proposed, though: apparently the idea of having an entourage of buddies like this is based on Mark Wahlberg’s true-life experiences – not so hard to believe considering how involved he is with the show: he’s an executive producer, appeared in the pilot episode, and provides one of the DVD extras by interviewing all the cast members).

"The Departed" (2007)

Martin Scorsese’s latest gangster-related movie is an amazing piece of cinematic work. Not only are the actors all A-List (it must have cost a fortune to make…!), but everything from the design, cinematography and – of course – the direction all top notch. The Departed follows the story of two kids from Southy in Boston, growing up in different circumstances, both passing through Boston police advanced training. One is chosen to hunt the mob (Damon) but is patronised by the don (Nicholson), the other is chosen to infiltrate the mob (DiCaprio) and help bring the don down. All very twisted so far.

The Departed marks the third movie Scorsese has made with Leonardo DiCaprio – certainly not something someone with a casual interest in Hollywood would have guessed not so long ago. (The others are Gangs Of New York and The Aviator) But, having truly laid to rest his reputation as just a pretty face, Leo has really stepped out as an actor, and I have found myself very impressed with his recent performances (and it looks like he’s going to give us another stellar performance in Blood Diamond, out this year). In The Departed, he shines as the mole-within-the-mob, mixing street toughness and vulnerability in his portrayal of Billy Costigan, ably demonstrating the angst and fear that must go through the mind of an undercover agent in such a situation.

Matt Damon, further proving that he’s better than Ben Affleck (was there really ever any doubt?), is equally compelling as Colin Sullivan, the rat-among-the-cops. Effectively raised by Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello to be a mole for him, Damon ably makes his part a character who, though clearly the bad guy, we can sympathise with when things start going a little awry for his various plans.

Mark Wahlberg, as the potty-mouthed Sergeant Dignam, second to Martin Sheen’s Captain Oliver Queenan, make for equally compelling television, as we really start to dislike the guy, almost from the start, just as we're meant to. All is forgiven, though... eventually.

Newcomer Vera Farmiga, who plays Madolyn - Damon’s girlfriend and shrink for the Boston police force, who has DiCaprio for a patient – is also brilliant, even if it did occasionally feel like her character was little more than a prop. She interacts between both Damon and DiCaprio, providing perhaps the only human link between the two.

On to the bigger names. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the rest of the cast. Martin Sheen didn’t play that much of a role in the movie, but his scenes were very good – it’s just a pity he wasn’t given more to sink his teeth into. Alec Baldwin played Alec Baldwin, but with a cop’s badge. Nothing new there. But, to tell the sad truth, Jack Nicholson disappointed perhaps the most. True, his character was meant to be a little unhinged and zany, but all I saw was a mixture of two previous characters of his – Melvin Udall (As Good As It Gets) and his most famous part, Randle Patrick McMurphy (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest). Interestingly, he got an Oscar for both of these parts, both of which were well deserved, but here it came across as nothing new. A pity.

A movie ably carried by the venerable director and his crop of younger actors, but sadly let down (though only slightly) by the more established names.

(The Departed is now available to buy on DVD in both the USA and UK)