What Just Happened?

Viewer Rating:mart1n has rated What Just Happened? rating: 3 Star

What just happened is a comedy that satirises the malaises of the movie industry. The movie is, we are assured in a disclaimer, a "completely fictionalised" adaptation, but the various characters remain recognisable. Not for the first time, Robert De Niro chews up the scenery in the leading role, but here with aplomb and a keen sense of humour. He plays Ben, a producer named by Vanity Fair as one of the 30 most powerful players in the film business. A shrewd, sly operator, Ben is one of those people who prizes the mobile phone as an aid to lying about where he is or what he is doing. Ben is getting increasingly frazzled, however, as he tries to deal with his two ex wives he also has to deal with a vain actor (Bruce Willis, gamely playing himself) who refuses to shave a long beard that he claims to be an expression of his artistic integrity. And he has to cope with a coarse English director determined to impose an unhappy ending on his new movie, a pretentious thriller with Sean Penn. Director Barry Leinson nimbly directs this breezy, entertaining romp that's awash with cynicism. What just happened manages to hit its well- judged targets more often then not.

Review published on the 06 April 2009 19:53