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Vincent Chase: A Character Study

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Written by Jonathan Jacobs

When the series Entourage started the show felt cooler than the Arctic Circle. The characters seemed like they could have been our friends or our friends’ friends. They were regular people whose buddy happened to become a megastar overnight. Their success seemed riveting. We did not want to be them, we wanted to be with them, even if as a tag-a-long. Times have changed. Vince has changed. The nature of his relationships with his closest friends has changed. Still, this is not the problem.

Vince has seen his fair share of break-ups and messy infatuations (a la Mandy Moore). The real problem is his career has stood on the brink of ruin too many times. Coupled with Drama and E moving out and moving on from the household circle of superfriends, Vince needed to find his own direction. When he performed the vicious car stunt that misfired in Ferrari, he developed a taste for risk taking. Then, without his friends there to reason with him he plunged into a relationship with notable porn star Sasha Grey. While seemingly another one of Vince’s forays into sexual delights the average man can only dream of, the porn star life caused him pain, suffering and destructive addiction. Poised to become the face of a 100 million dollar Randall Wallace franchise, Vince has become addicted to drugs and he abuses alcohol daily and nightly.

He is not totally at fault. If there is one thing the general public is aware of it is that strippers and porn stars abuse cocaine like it is going out of style. Their reasons are twofold. First, women actually do feel pain when they are stretched by super-sized male actors. Second, without the high and the augmented sensation induced by coke, working in the porn industry would be a painful and horrifying experience. Having sex with five guys at once is not as much fun as it appears to be. Bodies have limits even if we pretend these women are truly into group sex on a regular basis. Cocaine and other drugs dull the pain and allow women to feel pleasure that would otherwise be absent. Unfortunately for Vincent Chase, dating a porn star also means being exposed to her habits.

In this case, Sasha’s habits include snorting coke and drinking tequila. Without E monitoring his every move, and with Johnny drunk and depressed himself, and with Turtle sponsoring the same tequila that is causing Vince to become addicted, there is nobody left to reason with our star.

How this will play out is anyone’s guess (except for the producers, writers, directors, photographers and actors!) but we can only guess that Vince will be forced into rehab and will lose his coveted status as a bankable movie star. Should Entourage have gone in this direction? As a fan of the previous seasons I would argue this is a mistake. Even so, I appreciate Doug Ellin’s handling of the season so far and I am not only willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, I am on pins and needles (no innuendo intended) waiting to watch the exciting conclusion.

Jonathan Jacobs

Member Florida Film Critics Circle

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