Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 10/3108 Home Video 02/10/09 MPAA Rating Rated R [See Full Rating] for language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material Running Time 1 hour 50 minutes Genre Comedy Director Barry Levinson Writer Art Linson Cast Robert De Niro, Catherine Keener, Stanley Tucci, Robin Wright Penn, John Turturro, Michael Wincott, Bruce Willis, Sean Penn, Kristen Stewart Studio Magnolia Pictures |
WHAT JUST HAPPENED (2008)
SYNOPSIS
What Just Happened is a winningly sharp comedy
about two nail-biting, back-stabbing, roller-coaster
weeks in the world of a middle-aged Hollywood
producer -- as he tries to juggle an actual life with an
outrageous series of crises in his day job.
Academy Award® winning director Barry Levinson
reunites with Academy Award® winning actor Robert
De Niro and leading producer Art Linson, who wrote the
screenplay based on his bestselling memoir. They all
join with an all-star cast in this rollicking, shrewd tale
of a man besieged by people who want him to be all
sorts of things -- a money maker, an ego buster, a bad
news breaker, an artistic champion, a loyal husband,
an all-knowing father, not to mention sexy, youthful and
tuned-in – everything except for the one thing he and all
the preposterously behaved people he’s surrounded by
really are: bumbling human beings just trying to survive
by any means necessary. Ben (DE NIRO) 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 (SEAN PENN) – when
everything that can go wrong goes completely screwy.
What Just Happened is a winningly sharp comedy
about two nail-biting, back-stabbing, roller-coaster
weeks in the world of a middle-aged Hollywood
producer -- as he tries to juggle an actual life with an
outrageous series of crises in his day job.
Academy Award® winning director Barry Levinson
reunites with Academy Award® winning actor Robert
De Niro and leading producer Art Linson, who wrote the
screenplay based on his bestselling memoir. They all
join with an all-star cast in this rollicking, shrewd tale
of a man besieged by people who want him to be all
sorts of things -- a money maker, an ego buster, a bad
news breaker, an artistic champion, a loyal husband,
an all-knowing father, not to mention sexy, youthful and
tuned-in – everything except for the one thing he and all
the preposterously behaved people he’s surrounded by
really are: bumbling human beings just trying to survive
by any means necessary. Ben (DE NIRO) 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 (SEAN PENN) – when
everything that can go wrong goes completely screwy.
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
Fiercely looks like an audience-offending flop which draws the ire of iron-gloved studio chief Lou
(CATHERINE KEENER), who forces him into tangling with the film’s rebellious and drug-addled director
Jeremy (MICHAEL WINCOTT). Meanwhile, he’s confused and bewitched by his ex Kelly (ROBIN WRIGHT
PENN) who can’t make up her mind about him; shocked by his daughter Zoe (KRISTEN STEWART), who
seems to have grown up overnight; infuriated by his screenwriter friend Scott (STANLEY TUCCI) who’s
trying to make a deal with him while making moves on his former wife; horrified by a hirsute Bruce Willis
(BRUCE WILLIS) and flummoxed by Willis’ nebbishy agent Dick (JOHN TURTURRO), who’s scared to death
of his own clients.
Somehow amidst all the madness, treachery, deceit, runaway egos, rampant commercialism, personal
politics and atrocious behavior of America’s dream-making machinery, Ben has to find a way not just to
make it to Cannes with a finished film, but to cope . . .
What Just Happened is based on the acclaimed, bestselling memoir by veteran Hollywood producer Art
Linson, who wrote the screenplay and produced the film with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. The
executive producers are Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. The behind-the-scenes team includes
cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (Talk To Me, The Beat My Heart Skipped), editor Hank Corwin (The
New World), production designer Stefania Cella (Man of the Year) and composer Marcelo Zarvos (The
Good Shepherd). The film is set to a soundtrack that mixes the classic cinematic sounds of Ennio
Morricone with the songs of Nick Drake, Citizen Cope, Dire Straits, Bebel Gilberto and Nina Simone, among
others. --© Magnolia Pictures
(CATHERINE KEENER), who forces him into tangling with the film’s rebellious and drug-addled director
Jeremy (MICHAEL WINCOTT). Meanwhile, he’s confused and bewitched by his ex Kelly (ROBIN WRIGHT
PENN) who can’t make up her mind about him; shocked by his daughter Zoe (KRISTEN STEWART), who
seems to have grown up overnight; infuriated by his screenwriter friend Scott (STANLEY TUCCI) who’s
trying to make a deal with him while making moves on his former wife; horrified by a hirsute Bruce Willis
(BRUCE WILLIS) and flummoxed by Willis’ nebbishy agent Dick (JOHN TURTURRO), who’s scared to death
of his own clients.
Somehow amidst all the madness, treachery, deceit, runaway egos, rampant commercialism, personal
politics and atrocious behavior of America’s dream-making machinery, Ben has to find a way not just to
make it to Cannes with a finished film, but to cope . . .
What Just Happened is based on the acclaimed, bestselling memoir by veteran Hollywood producer Art
Linson, who wrote the screenplay and produced the film with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. The
executive producers are Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. The behind-the-scenes team includes
cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (Talk To Me, The Beat My Heart Skipped), editor Hank Corwin (The
New World), production designer Stefania Cella (Man of the Year) and composer Marcelo Zarvos (The
Good Shepherd). The film is set to a soundtrack that mixes the classic cinematic sounds of Ennio
Morricone with the songs of Nick Drake, Citizen Cope, Dire Straits, Bebel Gilberto and Nina Simone, among
others. --© Magnolia Pictures