What Just Happened (2008)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers (WGA):

Art Linson (written by)
Art Linson (book)

Release Date:

28 November 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

In Hollywood, everybody can hear you scream.

Plot:

Two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made.

Plot Keywords:

Beard | Hollywood | Ex Wife | Agent | Actor

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Ben
Sean Penn	...	Himself
Catherine Keener	...	Lou Tarnow
Bruce Willis	...	Actor
John Turturro	...	Dick Bell
Robin Wright Penn	...	Kelly
Stanley Tucci	...	Scott Solomon
Kristen Stewart	...	Zoe
Michael Wincott	...	Jeremy Brunell
Jason Kravits	...	Pollster (as Jason Kravitz)
Mark Ivanir	...	Johnny
Remy K. Selma	...	Jimmy (as Remy Selma)
Christopher Evan Welch	...	Studio Marketing Guy
Lily Rabe	...	Dawn
Sam Levinson	...	Carl

Also Known As:

What Just Happened? (International: English title) (long title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #44075) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 (f) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

California State University Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

2929 Productions

Trivia:

Was the closing film of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It was screened out-of-competition.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ben: 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.

Movie Connections:

References "The Lone Ranger" (1949)

Soundtrack:

Flow of Experience

Hollywood in Hollywood about Hollywood

Strange feeling for a French person to sit at a Hollywood movie theater to watch a movie about Hollywood. People around me laughed more than me because, presumably, the joke touches a lot of local nerves. The story is introduced by a score resembling the Nino Rota of "La Dolce Vita" but the similarities with "La Dolce Vita" end there. There is nothing new here other than Robert De Niro's performance, the first in a long time in which there is a notable commitment. I found the characters tiresome and far too familiar. I couldn't care less about any of them. The predicament of De Niro's Ben (a thinly veiled producer, writer Art Linson) left me cold. Living the times we're living, to concern myself with this was too much to ask.