Filmmakers may have forgotten ‘Entourage’ was a movie

“Entourage” the movie is a lot like “Entourage” the TV series, which is both a plus and a minus.

On the positive side, the film has the same breezy, loose-limbed feel of the original. They both share a love for smart-alecky and slightly vulgar one-liners, knowing winks at celebrity culture, and a constant parade of beautiful people, known and unknown.

But what works for “Entourage” in weekly 30 minute installments doesn’t translate so easily to the long-form movie format. Structurally, the film is just too slack and meandering over the course of its 104 minutes to build any real climax &#8212 comic or dramatic.

Crucial to any revival of a one-time powerful franchise is the ability to attract the original cast members, and fans of “Entourage” will be happy to see that, after a four-year absence, the gang’s all here. Vince (Adrian Grenier) the movie star; E (Kevin Connolly), his manager; Drama (Kevin Dillon) his doltish stepbrother; and Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), his driver. And of course, Vince’s high-powered agent Ari Gold, played by the series’ one breakout star, Jeremy Piven.

In the movie, Piven has become the head of a movie studio and for his first big film project, he’s signed Vince to star and direct a blockbuster version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. When the shooting goes way over budget, Ari goes ballistic and the guys push back.

Kevin Dillon’s character Drama gets most all of the good lines. He’s the group’s Id, and unfortunately the only interesting character in the entourage, and that includes pretty-boy Vince. In fact, with the exception of Ari and Drama, it’s astonishing how bland the other characters are.

Of course, it’s their camaraderie, and not their individual characters, that kept the TV show afloat. But that’s not enough to keep an entire movie from running aground. A strong plot would have helped but then plot lines were never the strong suit of the series, and that’s even more glaring in the movie version.

In fact, the plot twist that the entire movie pivots on is so lazy and minor, it’s as if the filmmakers forgot they were making a movie. The problem is they can’t rectify it in next week’s episode.

The only acknowledgement the movie seems to make at all to the fact that this is indeed a movie and not a half-hour sitcom is in the range and quality of the cameos. The show was already famous for its cameo appearances, but it goes all out for the movie &#8212 to the tune of, I’d guess, about 30 celebrity sightings. They range from Warren Buffett, Jessica Alba, and Liam Neeson to Tom Brady, Mark Wahlberg, and Gary Busey. And of course, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.

At a beachside party, Wilson is seen commiserating with E about being short. And in one brief funny exchange, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban asks him if he ever dreams about playing basketball. Wilson asks Cuban if he ever dreams about signing him.

Wilson certainly doesn’t embarrass himself, but he does look a little out of place among all the movie stars and anonymous topless babes.