Barry Levinson of “Good Morning, Vietnam” fame hasn’t directed a quality film in ages. Robert De Niro needs a role which doesn’t insult his intelligence – or our patience with his greatness.
Both get roughly what they were hoping for from “What Just Happened,” a new Hollywood satire that scorches the industry.
De Niro stars as Ben, a successful film producer facing calamities in both his personal and professional lives. He’s negotiating a painful divorce from his second wife (Robin Wright Penn) and trying to avoid a lawsuit from breaking out over his newest film.
The movie’s star (Bruce Willis, playing a egotistical version of himself) won’t shave his scruffy beard or lose weight for the role, and the financial players insist he play by their rules.
“What Just Happened” delights in detailing the insecurities of both key Hollywood players and the minions who make it all happen. And De Niro’s Ben remains the calm center in a very surreal storm no matter how miserable he becomes. He’s unflappable, but audiences can see his soul slipping away as the story progresses.
That’s why it’s a shame that the final reel itself feels so … soulless. Some problems wrap up in a tidy fashion, others are left to linger in our imaginations, but none resonate the way the film’s best scenes do.
De Niro, his hair longer than we’ve seen it recently, is both virile and hamstrung as Ben, and it’s his best performance in ages.
“What Just Happened” likely won’t attract much attention in theaters. Hollywood satires are hardly box office catnip. But it’s good to know two old pros still have the ability to create movies that can stand near, if not up, to their previous productions.
(Photo: Robert De Niro plays an addled producer looking for a little, ahem, stress relief in “What Just Happened.”)
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The movie’s star (Bruce Willis, playing a egotistical version of himself)
I’ve seen this scene and it doesn’t help Willis’s career any, that’s for sure. But I guess you have to take what you can get if you’re known as a right winger in Hollywood today, even one that went out of his way to make it known that he didn’t actually support Bush.