What Just Happened (2008)

Two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers:

Art Linson, Art Linson (book)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, John Turturro, Stanley Tucci

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Ben
Sean Penn	...	Sean Penn
Catherine Keener	...	Lou Tarnow
Bruce Willis	...	Actor
John Turturro	...	Dick Bell
Robin Wright	...	Kelly (as Robin Wright Penn)
Stanley Tucci	...	Scott Solomon
Kristen Stewart	...	Zoe
Michael Wincott	...	Jeremy Brunell
Jason Kravits	...	Pollster (as Jason Kravitz)
Mark Ivanir	...	Johnny
Remy K. Selma	...	Jimmy (as Remy Selma)
Christopher Evan Welch	...	Studio Marketing Guy
Lily Rabe	...	Dawn
Sam Levinson	...	Carl

Storyline

A week in the life of Ben, a powerful Hollywood producer, as he juggles negotiations with a studio head so that his newest picture can open at Cannes in two weeks, with a high-strung director who must make edits to the film, with an actor and his agent because the star has arrived on the set of a new picture with a full beard, and with his most recent ex-wife, Kelly, whom he discovers may have a lover. He also notices that his 17-year old daughter, from another marriage, has probably been crying. What's up? Can Ben keep it all together, get the green light from the studio to go to Cannes, move his new picture past the beard crisis, and maybe return to Kelly's good graces?

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Plot Keywords:

eyepatch | falling downhill | looking at oneself in a mirror | woman in a men's room | satirical | 

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Taglines:

Qui a dit que le cinéma était une grande famille? (Who said the movies were one big family?)

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material

Did You Know?

Trivia

The subplot involving Bruce Willis refusing to shave his beard for a movie is based on a real-life incident writer and producer Art Linson had with Alec Baldwin on the set of The Edge (1997).

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Quotes

[first lines]
Ben: Vanity Fair named me as one of the 30 most powerful producers in the business. Power is an elusive term, but in Hollywood it's everything, I don't care what they say, you either have it, want it, or you're afraid of losing it. Where you stand at these things, or who you may be standing next to, may not seem like the most important thing, but it *really* matters.

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Connections

References The Awful Truth (1937)

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Soundtracks

Poor Boy
Written and Performed by Nick Drake
Courtesy of Universal-Island Records Ltd.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

This is really a bore...

This is just pointless...

I have no idea what they really wanted to say...some Hollywood inside truth? Yeah, I knew that pretty clear, because this is not the first film that discussed that! Worse is that it seems that the actors did not know that it could be so boring...Come on, don't tell me they liked the script...

Robert De Niro himself looked quite "bored" in the film, and I couldn't help but wonder whether he just got disappointed in the midway of making it...His performance was so...plain, that you cannot give any serious comment on it...

Anyway, I do not know what this film is actually trying to convey, but I as a common audience were obviously ignored when it started to tell a story.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew French

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

What Just Happened?

Filming Locations:

California State University Northridge - 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$192,508, 19 October 2008

Gross USA:

$1,090,947

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,759,057

Company Credits

Production Co:

2929 Productions, Art Linson Productions, Linson Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1