(52%) Without doubt a film that assumes that the audience is as interested in the behind the scenes of the Hollywood movie making industry as it is, yet for all its assumptions I still kind of enjoyed this one. Whether or not you may take anything from this depends on how much you like the idea of following around Robert DeNiro as a typical movie producer for just shy of two hours. Despite this supposedly on the outset to use a more subtle form of comedy, it in fact is full of much more simplistic methods to draw out the laughs, so expect many actor/director based outbursts, people falling into open graves, animal death based black humour, and test screening score cards covered with insults. None of which comes close to ever being subtle, but I thought overall it worked okay. The film in the long run doesn't have enough puff to go the distance, but as successful failures go, this ain't too bad at all.

"What Just Happened" tells the story of a fading Hollywood producer... and that's all. Nothing extraordinary happens to him throughout the course of the film. He squabbles with his ex-wife, argues with stubborn actors and nurtures frustrated directors while trying to please the studio head... pretty much what every producer has done since the dawn of the film industry. I kept waiting for the moment that his life would spin into new, unexpected territory to justify the film but it never happened.Robert DeNiro is great in the lead- completely believable as a passionate man whose job is to mute himself in order to serve everyone else's passions. (Is it me or does he look much better with the goatee these days?) The movie is based on real-life producer Art Linson's book which is chock-full of anecdotes and true stories of absurdity from the world of film-making. I'm guessing the book plays much better than the movie.The movie, in fact, plays more like a pilot for a television series since it sets up a sympathetic lead character and all his supporting cast: his estranged daughter, his dullard assistant, his drama queen director, unshakable studio exec... and yet we get no real payoff for any of the plot lines: Where does DeNiro call his daughter a slut? Where does he punch out the director for changing the ending to his film? Where does he sabotage his friend's screenplay for sleeping with his ex-wife?Not here. This is just an average week in the life of a Hollywood power-broker, and a rather unremarkable one at that. What a waste...GRADE: C

Hollywood is a culture of extreme narcissism. A film exploring the Hollywood culture of extreme narcissism is going to produce a movie about characters who are extremely narcissistic. Now, hopefully this was done deliberately, in which case "What Just Happened" is a work of genius and honesty. If the filmmakers are not aware that most of America do not like characters like the ones in this movie, then it is just another demonstration of Hollywood's culture of narcissism.I was trying to figure out why I felt so defensive watching this movie and it was more than just the self-absorbed characters. "What Just Happened" is a movie about Hollywood insiders made for the enjoyment of Hollywood insiders. No effort at all was made to let outsiders in on the joke. At a dinner party this would be rather rude! One could get much of the humor, but only if they scoured the industry media such as "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter ". Other than that, the average viewer is completely out of the loop! I could not bring myself to like one single character in this movie. The worst part is that movies like this, at the least, usually show Los Angeles as one of the characters and the director failed at that because the camera was too busy focusing on all these annoying self-absorbed characters. Unless you're a Hollywood insider or are ambitious to make it into Hollywood film industry circles and want to know how Hollywood ticks, avoid this movie. It is just not entertaining.

A producer(DeNiro) with two ex-wives and families tries to get a British artsy director(Wincott) to change the ending of their most recent film, and Bruce Willis to shave off a beard(he's also gained weight, but no one seems to worry about him losing *that*) before he stars in a movie. The clock is ticking on both, and it's astounding just how little we care. Oh, and yes, that actually is the entire story. It certainly isn't enough for a feature. Maybe this should have been a TV pilot? There are several subplots, one more unresolved and utterly pointless than the next. I haven't read the memoirs that this is based upon. The acting is good, with the possible exception of Tucci(not sure what happened there). We've got real talent, but they can't reanimate the dead material they're given. There is barely anything funny in this at all. The handful of jokes are drawn out endlessly. Granted, Robert talking with Robin and "trying to be understanding" is amusing, and this can make you smile every now and then. On the whole, the punchline is that Hollywood is full of sex with underage girls, drugs and personal problems. Newsflash: We know. And it isn't delivered in any kind of fresh way. Maybe part of the issue is that these are in-jokes... we don't get them. This has been called indulgent and arrogant, and I completely agree. Why make a big flick that won't appeal to anyone not in the business? This is slow-paced and incredibly boring. It's too bad, because the editing and cinematography(with some hand-held camera) aren't bad. This is meant to be a satire... I'd go for S1m0ne over it any day. It's the worst I've seen by Levinson. There is a bunch of strong language, a bit of moderate, bloody violence and disturbing content and brief nudity in this. The DVD comes with a trailer. I recommend this only to the most forgiving of potential viewers. 5/10