Barry Levinson’s What Just Happened is a hilarious look of what’s happening behind the scenes in Hollywood. It stars Robert De Niro as Ben the producer, Sean Penn as himself, Bruce Willis as himself, John Turturro as Dick the agent, Michael Wincott as Jeremy the director, and Kristen Stewart as Zoe the producer’s daughter.
Ben must face his personal problems and at the same time solve dilemmas at work. The situations might be a bit exaggerated but it’s an amusing take on the stressful life of being a movie producer. I used to think that all he had to do was pay everyone but I guess I was wrong.
Part of Ben’s job is to deal with temperamental directors and demanding actors. One of the movies he’s producing is the Sean Penn-starrer Fiercely, which is directed by Jeremy. There’s a scene from the fake movie where a Penn’s dog gets shot in the head. The test audience didn’t like it but the director doesn’t want to cut it off. Then there’s Bruce Willis, who is giving the production crew a hard time because he doesn’t want to shave his beard off. It’s fun to see Willis playing his role and what Ben does to persuade him.
Ben (Robert De Niro): Vanity Fair named me as one of the 30 most powerful producers in the business. Power is an elusive term, but in Hollywood it’s everything, I don’t care what they say, you either have it, want it, or you’re afraid of losing it. Where you stand at these things, or who you may be standing next to, may not seem like the most important thing, but it *really* matters.
The all-star cast of What Just Happened delivered on what’s expected from them. The performances were awesome. Even Kristen Stewart did a good job on being Ben’s rebellious daughter. The plot was a little predictable except for the part where the director surprised everyone during Cannes when the final cut still featured the brutal shooting of the dog.
What Just Happened is a satire and should not be taken seriously. It is a film within a film with a couple of LOL moments. But this movie might turn off some people, especially those not interest in finding out about what goes on when making a movie.
