Review of What Just Happened (2008) by Matt E — 07 Mar 2009

I'd began to think Robert DeNiro had lost his thunder. The man behind such classics as Taxi Driver and Goodfellas has fallen into the cliche "tough guy" role or more desperate acts such as the horrendous Hide and Seek.

he reclaims some of his dignity with his great performance here, in a movie that would suck without him. What Just Happened? explores similar themes as the blockbuster hilarity of Tropic Thunder, but doesn't succeed quite as well.

An "insider" look meant to rip Hollywood, more specifically actors, a new asshole by showing us how stuck-up they are. DeNiro plays a deppressed producer who is coping with too much. As I already said, he nails it, showing us a side of him that we haven't seen.

He grovels over the phone, gets an unwanted pedicure, and chases an airplane down the runway. The other performances are largely miss, with some hits. Catherine Keener is reliably excellent in her small role as a bitchy behind the scenes exec, and Bruce Willis does a hilarious send-up of actors as a leading man who tries to be "artistic" by growing a beard.

Kristen Stewart also shows real acting chops in her extremely underwritten role. Why couldn't she bring some of that urgency to Twilight? I wish Sean Penn would've been more utilized, he was the second actor advertised on the box, probably just to sell the movie.

All in all, it's a decent acting movie, but the plot is too ambitious and begins to trek through mundane muck by the end. Watch it to remember why you loved DeNiro in the first place.