Prepare for glamour, man-angst and a lot of male genitalia jokes as "Entourage" makes its grand entrance. The series is off to a loud start and as much as I would want to say that this is a good thing, episode one makes for rather weak first impressions. The series seems a little too eager to sell debauchery and flair, but at least its hinted human elements are promising.
Getting the smaller problematic things out of the way before moving on to the bigger elements of the South Korean "Entourage" so far, I have to say that the episode's obsession with spastic editing, pretty lights, overbearing directing and relentless background music is tiring. The creators attack the senses to portray a world that never sleeps, but this fills the episode with many unnecessary scenes all attempting to pound the same thing into our minds.
Said thing is that our characters are living in glamour, that they are buddies and that each has their head in their own special clouds. Of course the episode addresses their different personalities and the tougher side of living the celebrity life little by little, which is already soon enough to show potential. Cha Joon (Lee Gwang-soo) and Turtle (Lee Dong-hwi) are still comedic reliefs and caricatures, but the relationship between Cha Yeong-bin (Seo Kang-joon) and Lee Ho-jin (Park Jeong-min-I) is promising.
The two men clearly live in a different world, one being constantly coddled while the other bears all the abuse and stress related to the business of being an actor. The series is brutally honest about these business realities underneath the glamour. The two men's conflict over their relationship and different experiences is interesting, so seeing it resolved so quickly is slightly disappointing. At the same time, perhaps this is a recurring obstacle we will be revisiting as interests keep clashing.
Episode one also introduces us to the big antagonistic force so far and that is Kim Eun-gap (Jo Jin-woong) as an abusive, fame-crazy businessman. I use the word businessman, but the man acts more like a gang boss, emotionally abusing others to get his way. He looks like a character whose morality will be a big focus and who will likely play on both sides of the good/evil alignment. At the moment, however, he is just a nuisance.
This is perhaps the most disappointing part about the premiere episode. The overly energetic, try-hard presentation of the series has unfortunately encouraged overacting from an otherwise talented cast. I realize that this is done to make Yeong-bin and Ho-jin feel relatively normal among madmen, but I hope the series calms down and shows us the people behind the cartoons soon.
"Entourage" is directed by Jang Yeong-woo, written by Kwon So-ra and Seo Jae-won and features Jo Jin-woong, Seo Kang-joon, Lee Gwang-soo, Park Jeong-min-I and Lee Dong-hwi.
Source:HanCinema
