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 | hollywood | 

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Taglines:

In Hollywood, everybody can hear you scream.

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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

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] 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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,090,947, 18 December 2008

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,291,679

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Was the closing film of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. It was screened out-of-competition.

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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

Referenced in The Wizard of Lies: Cast interviews (2017)

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Soundtracks

Hey Cowboy
Written & Performed by Lee Hazlewood
Courtesy of Lee Hazlewood Records

User Reviews

Hollywood in Hollywood about Hollywood

Strange feeling for a French person to sit at a Hollywood movie theater to watch a movie about Hollywood. People around me laughed more than me because, presumably, the joke touches a lot of local nerves. The story is introduced by a score resembling the Nino Rota of "La Dolce Vita" but the similarities with "La Dolce Vita" end there. There is nothing new here other than Robert De Niro's performance, the first in a long time in which there is a notable commitment. I found the characters tiresome and far too familiar. I couldn't care less about any of them. The predicament of De Niro's Ben (a thinly veiled producer, writer Art Linson) left me cold. Living the times we're living, to concern myself with this was too much to ask.