What Just Happened is a satirical comedy about two nail-biting, back-stabbing, roller-coaster weeks in the life of Ben (Academy Award® winner Robert De Niro; Meet The Parents, Heat) a middle aged Hollywood producer trying to juggle his work and private life in tinsel town. Ben is already in over his head trying to balance the tug-of-war of having two ex-wives and two different families with his latest business venture – the boldly “visionary” movie Fiercely starring Sean Penn (played by himself; 21 Grams, Mystic River) when everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. Fiercely looks like it is going to be an audience-offending flop which the hard nosed studio chief Lou (Catherine Keener; 40 Year Old Virgin, Capote), insists will only see the light day if Ben convinces drug-addled director Jeremy (Michael Wincott; The Count of Monte Cristo, Before Night Falls) to re cut the finished product. Meanwhile in his private life, he can’t stop thinking about his ex, Kelly (Robin Wright Penn; Beowulf, Breaking and Entering), is shocked by his daughter Zoe (Kristen Stewart; Panic Room, Jumper) in her readiness to grow up and infuriated with his friend Scott (Stanley Tucci; The Devil Wears Prada, Lucky Number Slevin) who’s not only trying to make a deal with him but also making moves on his former wife………. On his next project he’s trying to deal with the artistic temperament of his leading man; Bruce Willis (played by himself; Live Free and Die Hard, Sin City) whilst receiving no support from Bruce Willis’ spineless agent Dick (John Turturro; O Brother Where Art Thou, The Big Lebowski). Somehow amidst the madness, treachery, deceit, huge egos and personal politics behind-the-scenes in Hollywood, Ben has to find a way not just to Cannes with a finished film, but to cope and keep his sanity
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"The title says it all. Seriously - what just happened?!"
A beard. An argument over a dead dog. Relationship issues. I think that pretty much sums up this film. I say think, because this thing jumped around more than a kangaroo on speed.
In a nutshell, the film is a look back at a week in the life of film Producer Ben played by Robert De Niro. Ben has issues. His current film has an ending that appals audiences and studio execs alike. His 17 year old daughter from his first marriage appears to have been having sexual relations with a now dead drug addict agent, his second ex wife is having a relationship with his friend, and Bruce Willis refuses to shave off his ‘Grizzly Adams' beard which puts his next film on the verge of collapse.
I'm sure some critics out there will look at the state of the relationships in the film, the outrage at the death of a dog and the corresponding ambivalence towards the death of a human being and make some very highbrow comment about the woes of modern society. I'm not going to do that. I honestly don't think the Average Joe is going to care about that. This isn't a preachy film, and to read too much into it is going to do no one any favours at all. Fair enough there are some really funny moments, but the cinematography, pacing and script are just so haphazard as to prevent the film from being thoroughly engaging and enjoyable.
So what do we take from this film? Honestly, I think they just tried a little too hard to make something a bit edgy, a bit different (a concept mirrored in the film itself). In the end, it's just a bit of a muddle.