Review of What Just Happened (2008) by Ahmad J — 13 Feb 2009

Barry Levinson's [i]What Just Happened [/i]is a brief foray into the life of an over-the-hill Hollywood producer, Ben, as he struggles to balance both his fading career and his less than desirable life outside of it. A struggle it becomes indeed when a stubborn actor, hilariously portrayed by Bruce Willis (playing himself), refuses to shave his beard in preparation for the filming of a new picture. Even further still, Ben encounters problems with making the appropriate post-production efforts for another film, as its eccentric and very much unstable director refuses to part with the cut he's most fond of. On top of that, Ben manages to stack his failed attempts to reconcile with his recently estranged wife and trying to be the best father he can be to his three children.

[i]WJH [/i]is a film I've been looking forward to seeing for quite some time now, what with limited releases always managing to skip whole cities and states in an attempt to prevent me from seeing them. Needless to say, I got lucky, but was it worth it? Somewhat, and I'll explain why. First, there's the issue of how well the film stays true to its premise, in regards to the satirical, yet insightful look it casts upon Hollywood today, and to me, it was effective enough. However, the rest of the plot feels plain scattershot at points, all thanks to Levinson's apparent failure to ease the audience into each new situation. Some scenes manage to drone on a bit too long as well, and since it's hard to be interested in a movie about a career you're not a part of, these are pretty forgettable.

On another note, the performances are just fine, as DeNiro never really fails to disappoint in this respect; he just tends to sign on to crap movies more often than not these days. Like I stated previously, Bruce Willis is hilarious as his arrogant self, with John Turturro delivering a few laughs here and there as well for good measure. Despite apt portrayals of these characters, some of them just feel plain unnecessary, and the humor IS there, just not consistently. It's almost as if Linson felt he had to stay true to every excruciating detail of his memoir of the same title, no matter how uninteresting in written form, while still managing to keep the movie down to a reasonable length.

Overall, [i]WJH [/i]is a mediocre satirical approach to Hollywood filmmaking. Like most of DeNiro's recent work, it has its moments, but for the most part, it falls a bit flat. The mildly intriguing-yet-incomprehensible plot elements strewn about and the inconsistent dark comedic undertones are more or less what kept this film from being well-above average. Should YOU see it? Sure, it's worth a watch, but just to forewarn you, it's not everybody's cup of tea. Still, I'd say it was worth my time, but as a whole, it just missed the mark.