Robert Deniro Movie:

		List Price: $34.98		Label: Magnolia Salesrank: 51179 Released: February 24, 2009
		Our Price: $9.95
		Used Price: $8.00
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
A winningly sharp comedy about two nail-biting, back-stabbing, roller-coaster weeks in the world of a middle-aged Hollywood producer.

Description of What Just Happened? [Blu-ray]:
Somebody once dubbed Hollywood "the Dream Factory"; What Just Happened aims to make sad, occasionally zany comedy of the proposition that unreality is the keynote of Hollywood as place, process, and lifestyle. Art Linson wrote it, and as producer of The Untouchables, Fight Club, Heat, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, et numerous al., he must know the territory. Trouble is, after Robert Altman's way-superior The Player (1992), several seasons of Entourage, and wraparound entertainment coverage on cable TV and the Internet, most of What Just Happened feels secondhand and superfluous. Robert De Niro gives a low-key comic performance as Ben, a seasoned producer being relegated to the edge of Tinseltown's Big Picture. The test screening of his latest movie was a disaster because his arty Cockney director (Michael Wincott, savoring a rare comic opportunity) insists on killing off not only hero Sean Penn but also, unforgivably, his dog. And Ben's next movie may not get made at all because Bruce Willis is adamant about playing his part with an outlandish beard the studio won't stand for. Meanwhile, our beleaguered protagonist is living in a soulless plastic-and-chrome apartment while supporting two ex-wives in their respective Houses Beautiful. The second wife (Robin Wright Penn) has lined up a divorce counselor to help them get on with their separate lives, even as Ben yearns for reconciliation.

What Just Happened re-teams De Niro with director Barry Levinson eleven years after Wag the Dog (1997), their surreal black comedy about Hollywood and Washington, different kinds of dream factory, collaborating on a politically expedient fiction and an unnecessary war. Nothing comparable is at stake here--though at one point studio boss Catherine Keener does evoke memories of President Lyndon Johnson issuing directives while perched on the commode. There are funny bits and deft touches from such redoubtable troupers as John Turturro--playing an agent terrified of talking to his clients--and Stanley Tucci, as a screenwriter who may be moving in on that wife Ben hopes to win back. However, Levinson's direction is so lackadaisical, there's barely a moment that doesn't nudge the whole enterprise toward the direct-to-video bin. --Richard T. Jameson

What Just Happened? [Blu-ray] Reviews:
Worth seeing, but not a keeper.
2009-11-08 - While this movie falls a little short in sheer narrative pleasure, it's still fun to watch Sean Penn and Bruce Willis play themselves larger than life.

If you already feel jaded towards the Hollywood establishment, this film doesn't have a lot to teach you. But as a meditation on the performative, fraudulent nature of power, it's an interesting story. Depending on who he's talking to in the pecking order, De Niro's character--a producer slowly falling from grace--switches from despot to cowering lackey, and De Niro plays his part very well.

So well that it becomes hard to watch. You want the characters to just say something real... to connect like regular human beings.

Bruce Willis carries the show with over-the-top outbursts of drama-queen rage. I think someone would have to be a pretty nice guy in real life to be able to play themselves as such a jerk in a movie.

One oddity: Bruce has a eulogy that includes a quote about how "Hollywood is a place where good men die like dogs." In the DVD trailer, he attributes the quote to his father. In the movie he attributes it to Hunter S. Thompson.

Your job? Spread this net rumor: Hunter S. Thompson was Bruce Willis' father.

Selling De Niro's face
2009-10-03 - I didn't bother renting this one based on the description. It looked a lot like they were just trying to sell a lousy movie by putting De Niros face on the cover. Based on the ratings I'm seeing, they probably were.

Don't Miss What Just Happened
2009-08-15 - Wow. If you only watched movies based on reviews, chances are you have spent a few months avoiding Barry Levinson's latest, WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

What are you missing?

- A great performance from Robert De Niro: That alone should make this movie worth watching for many people. De Niro has been a bit hit-and-miss with his movie choices lately, but as Hollywood producer Ben, De Niro is simply terrific. In ways both obvious and subtle, he manages to convey many layers of emotion as his character tries to bridge the worlds of creativity and commerce--even as he tries to come to terms with all the compromises, mistakes and challenges that have left him with two ex-wives and a lot of bills to pay. The fact that his two current projects are both collapsing around him only adds to the pressure. But, touchingly, the thing he seems to care most about is that his most recent wife (Robin Wright) is reupholstering his favorite (but no longer his) sofa.

- A great insider view of the movie industry: Sure, it's been done before. But I enjoyed this movie more than "The Player" and found it more compelling and fun than "Entourage.". Catherine Keener as the steely, numbers-oriented studio head? Superb. Michael Wincott as the British director who's both a recovering addict and an unyielding creative primadonna? Nailed it. Stanley Tucci as the screenwriter (and romantic rival) whose next movie is about a florist? Fantastic. John Turturro as the agent who's too scared to talk to his high-powered clients. Hilarious. Robin Wright Penn as the ex-wife who wants to move on but never can say goodbye? Heart-achingly believable. Kristin Stewart as the angst-ridden teen who may have an inappropriate lover? You know she can play that role, "Twilight" fans!

- Funny, self-deprecating cameos by Bruce Willis and Sean Penn: These two guys really get into the spirit of the movie. Willis, especially, seems to thrive on playing "Bruce Willis" as a cocky method actor who is willing to put a whole movie at risk rather than shave the bushy beard he's grown as an "artistic choice" for his character.

This is a movie where you have to get over the fact that, when we get to the Cannes Film Festival, Robert De Niro is just a face in the crowd while "Sean Penn" is a real-world movie star. Plus the fact that Sean Penn's real-life wife is the fictional ex-wife of a character played by De Niro. If you get to that point, though, you will probably be enjoying this movie as much as I did, and these things will barely register.

So ignore the reviews. (Except this one) Watch this movie with an open mind. If nothing else, you'll end up appreciating how hard it is for Hollywood to create a movie that leaves you so thoroughly entertained.

No Wag the Dog
2009-07-04 - This film was worth a look but it's no "Wag The Dog" or "The Player". With this concept and this cast it should have been a classic movie.... but it ended up as only a lightweight unfortunately.

a good book becomes a weak movie -- ain't that always the way?
2009-06-20 - Robert De NIro gives his most appealing, least mannered performance in years. Unfortunately, it's for this lifeless Hollywood satire (based on the fun memoirs of producer Art Linson) that has nothing new to say.