Two films open today that interested me, but if the name Ari Gold means anything to you I suggest you only see one of them. Transferring the hit US HBO series Entourage to the big screen was always going to be a leap of faith.
But those who have it will enjoy what is essentially an extended episode of the show, which is about the machinations of Hollywood as experienced by an A-list star (Adrian Grenier), his manager (Kevin Connolly) his brother (Kevin Dillon) who is a wanna-be star and his former driver (Jerry Ferrara) who is now something big in tequila.
I only ever watched it for the wonderful Ari Gold, the super-agent played by every Jewish mother's dream son-in-law Jeremy Piven and he is still firing inventive expletives, but in his new job as head of a studio. So if you keep a list of Ari witticisms on your fridge, you'll appreciate the extra footage.
Accidental Love is harder to sell, though it was probably easier to pitch back in 2008 when the half-Jewish director David O'Russell and several other writers including Al Gore's daughter Kristin came up with the story about Alice, a small-town waitress (Jessica Biel) who in a freak accident during a romantic dinner winds up with a three-inch nail in her brain and no health insurance to get it removed.
Of course, today, under the Obamacare package Alice would be sorted, but with a Bush-type on the presidential throne, she has no choice but to head to Washington and appeal to a novice senator (Jake Gyllenhaal) to champion her noble social cause.
The film has not fared well with most critics who would happily use it for dart practice and its unfortunate history includes a walk-out by director O'Russell whose name on the credits now appears as the fictitious Stephen Greene.
But even with all the baggage and the fact that it is totally nuts and loses its way more than it should, I did laugh and more than once.
O'Russell may have disowned it, but there are moments when his involvement is evident in a good way and as the man responsible for The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and the utterly incredible American Hustle, he can afford to keep Accidental Love on his resumé.
