Genres

Visitors Review

gwcohn-2 2012-05-25 17:11:07

Worst movie I ever saw!

This is one of those movies that you try to watch all of the waythrough because you paid good money to rent it.Sadly, this is the first movie I ever returned without watching all ofit because it was worse than awful. The acting is wooden, the plot isbeyond stupid and the whole thing makes me want to sue the studio toget my two hours back.I generally like DeNiro and even liked many of Willis's movies but allI can say is they must be desperate to appear in a morbid piece oftrash like this.The movie starts off as a screening for some sort of mystery and afterthe scene with the dog, the screening reviewers generally pan it as apiece of garbage. Unfortunately, the real movie doesn't get any better.The interaction between DeNiro and his ex isn't even a good divorcemovie. All this movie accomplishes is makes me see how really ineptHollywood is in producing something that would make a decent drama oreven comedy.Save your money, spend it on a hamburger or something, you will getmore out of it.

Katie 2012-05-25 03:27:19

I just wasted 2 hours of my life is what happened!

This just goes to show that big names don't always equal a big hit. I'm glad I only paid $1 to rent this from redbox. Anymore and I would really be kicking myself. It was booooooring. My wife kept looking at me with this look like "why are we still watching this" I'm more upset about wasting 2 hours of my life than the $1. Save your money. It will be on network TV very soon or maybe they won't bother showing it if they took the time to watch it either.

policy134 2012-05-15 01:50:35

Tour de force De Niro. It is also some sort of satire on Hollywood

Great to see De Niro in top form again, although the movie he's in is alittle tiresome and produced with a rather annoying editing style.De Niro could play a platypus great, if he wanted to, but he has tohave some support. Most of the supporting characters are prettyordinary stereotypes of what the players in Hollywood must look likefor an outsider. All the back-scratching, kissing up and deals that aremade by them were pretty much covered in similar movies like The Playerand even Wag the Dog, directed by Barry Levinson, the director of thismovie.So, we established that it has nothing new to say. Is it entertainingthen? Yes, if you consider watching De Niro in every sceneentertaining, which I do. He is a dynamo here. After watching therather embarrassing Righteous Kill, it is great to finally see De Niroat his best. Wheeling and dealing his way through it all is a joy towatch. Also, Chatherine Keener as the humorless executive has sometruth to it and she does it without being slightly unsympathetic.Watching Bruce Willis acting like a total, raving lunatic was a bithard to swallow but hey, you got to have somebody do it. Sean Penn, whoyou would expect to act like that, doesn't, but that just goes to showyou that he is no dummy. Why would he play a parody of himself that healready did so well when he was married to Madonna? So, you learnnothing from seeing this and you can't really object to what you seebecause like most of the world, you don't know what Hollywood is reallylike. The locations look great, though.

secondtake 2012-05-14 18:03:10

Suicidal self-parody, an embarrassment of narcissism

What Just Happened (2008)Nothing happened, and nothing is going to happen, and maybe that's thepoint. But it's a drag to try to get absorbed in a movie that has somany hooks (like major stars in cameo roles) and such little meat. Oreven veggie burger. It's a dismissible farce, top to bottom.And I tried to like it. I mean, it is funny for a minute that BruceWillis has a big beard and won't shave it, but man, they drag it out,over and over again, like an old joke we've never heard. If this wasn'ta comedy and was all about Hollywood's excess, critically, then wemight tsk tsk and say, too bad. But it's supposed to be funny! Haha.Give it a try. You'll laugh, you'll enjoy the company of some of thepeople, and some of the scenes really are funny, briefly. But that's giving it the benefit of a truckload of doubts. Yes, RobertDe Niro holds up his part of things, wearily. Catherine Keener ifstrong in her minor part. Robin Wright is top flight, for sure, thoughshe has to bounce off of De Niro's materialist, slightly stupidarrogance. There really are mini-roles by John Turturro (sharp asusual) and Stanley Tucci (not sharp, which is unusual). The director? Well, he feasted on his success of Wag the Dog and theremight be an attempt at something similar here. But sorry, it is its ownvictim, a suicidal self-parody. Go out to eat instead.

2012-05-13 21:17:35

disappointing result to a movie with a lot of potential

The title is very fitting to the film as in the fact that the movie leaves you questioning what just happened to an hour and a half of your life. The film follows Ben (Robert DeNiro), an executive producer who is trying to juggle daughters, wives, directors, studio executives, and the rest of Hollywood. Instead of being an expose of how finicky Hollywood is to its directors, actors, and producers, the film wavers and becomes a random hodgepodge of triteness. The movie misses the mark by not allowing Ben to be a sympathetic character, one who shows true motivation or true spirit. In the end, one can't help but feel that the exceptional supporting cast is entirely wasted (Stanley Tucci, Sean Penn, Robin Wright, John Turturro, Bruce Willis, Catherine Keener, and even Kirsten Stewart). Bruce Willis provides the comedic relief in this film. It's also unfair to say that the actors don't do justice to the characters, but if "What Just Happened" is correct, then the movie was cut inappropriately in the editing room to be more "saleable", which it turns out it isn't anyway.

2012-05-13 07:49:34

good view of hollywood from a producers perspective

This movie is somewhere inbetween a comedy and drama. Robert de nirois excellent as the producer who struggles to create profitable movies.It details how the character deals with sometimes childish temperamental people who aren't rotten just spoiled. Although there is alot of stress in hollywood the rest of us are not allowed to get away with tantrums even if our lives are even ten times more stressful than the people out there. And noone is hollywood should be proud of drug abusing or take it lightly as this movie seems to do. One high point is that Bruce willis creates a version of himself that is a egotist and selfish but in reality he hasn't been known for this kind of behaviour. This is much like the flick 'my name is bruce' featuring bruce campbell. The characters they play are NOT them, but they do use their names. This isn't a laugh out loud comedy and when studios mislabel a flick it tends to aggravate some viewers. And this is A dark comedy. This movie features a producers life which is a disaster and he is probably on the final downward success spiral that happens to most people in hollywood eventually. For some people all it takes is one flop and like John Hughes the great 1980's director it's all over with. The blu ray transfer is excellent and the movie has alot of great actors in it. It's not a great movie though and if you don't care about life in hollywood and watching supremely selfish people who put themselves first above everyone else , then you won't like this movie. However it does exist as a study of a man's life which is falling apart with some humerous elements. De Niro's character is a failure as a husband , father ,friend and towards the end even as a superproducer but one gets the sense that he will just deal with it and perhaps become a better man.

vampirbg 2012-05-11 16:00:54

Boring

This film was very boring and a perfect example of the current state ofthings in Hollywood. They think that just by bringing big stars in themovie will have to be a hit. The actors are not the problem. They did their part. The problem is inthe script or rather lack of it. The script is better suited for a 45minute episode than for a whole movie. That's probably why the movieneeded to be padded with long scenes of traveling. Also, the pace istoo slow.My advice to everyone is to avoid this movie. Watching paint dry isequally amusing and you might even get it for free.

valis1949 2012-05-11 00:22:25

Mild In The Streets

WHAT JUST HAPPENED? is a Mild and Mellow work without the over-useddevice of Satire. If you are looking for a trenchant commentary on themovie industry-look elsewhere. For that kind of incisive, satiricalapproach you might want to check out Robert Altman's, THE PLAYER. WHATJUST HAPPENED? accurately, yet amusingly, documents two weeks in thelife of a highly successful Hollywood producer. And, the filmaccomplishes this task quite well. We are treated to a 'behind thescenes' look at a producer's nearly insane difficulties in bringing twofilm projects to fruition. Robert DeNiro's performance is all about'restraint'. As the producer, his role is to make all of these wildlydivergent elements function with synchronicity. And, since nearly allof the goals of these factions are diametrically opposed, it is anearly impossible task. Throughout the film, DeNiro only 'reacts',because-above all-he must placate ALL of the players in the process,and the viewer easily empathizes with his character. In addition, therest of the stellar cast turned in memorable characterizations asdenizens of this high-pressure universe. WHAT JUST HAPPENED? is a wryand entertaining look at how Hollywood films are made, yet was notdesigned to 'blow the lid' off of the film industry.

2012-05-10 08:44:38

The Movie Sucked, Thats What Happened!

This review is from: What Just Happened? [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) I'm A BIG De Niro fan. I respect a lot of his movies. But this is the worst movie I have ever seen him in, by far the worst! The characters are boring there is nothing fun or memorable to get you interested in the characters themselves, or there lives for that matter. The story is all over the place. It was suppose to poke fun or the industry but can I get a laugh in the process. It was a real let down for a man of his talents. I can't imagine him looking over the script and thinking this was a good idea. I've never even heard of this movie and I see why. If I were able to give it a lower score I would. It doesn't have a single moment when you can say(honestly) to someone I atleast got 1 good laugh out of it, not one! This movie is so awful that I had to take a breaks because I couldn't stand to watch it for a long period time. It was that bad in my opinion. It took me 3 days to watch the whole thing. I was looking for 1 silver cloud in the other wise cesspool of a hurricane you would call a movie, also I try to finsh every move I watch so I can be fair. Don't waste your time, or money wait until it comes out on T.V. for FREE. Even then you should still get a refund.

JoeB131 2012-05-10 05:41:26

good film, whines too much.

My thought on this movie is that it is too complaining. It points outthat Hollywood is a business, just like every other business. Thatmeans you have to do things you don't want to do, deal with personnelissues and creative problems you'd rather not deal with. Hey, just likeevery other business in America, quit your belly aching. Most of usdon't get such rich rewards.The main subplot is that you have an artistic film with Sean Penn(playing himself) where the climax involves shooting a dog. (No animalswere harmed in the production of this film!) the hero of the film hasto balance trying to get the director to produce a more palatableending against trying to get Bruce Willis to shave his beard to tryingto work things out with his two families. If I have a complaint it isthat all these subplots are run through at such a manic pace that wehave a hard time tracking them all.Still, DiNiro is solid in the role, as are most of the othercharacters.

2012-05-05 04:17:18

If you can't poke fun at yourself ...

Unlike CQ which SUCKED > movie within movie, this actually covers that niche.It was interesting to watch Hollywood poke fun at itself while observing the damage inflicted to individuals.Good Job!

2012-05-04 11:30:30

Interesting, but not much substance

"What Just Happened" is an interesting and occasionally funny satire of Hollywood, but that's pretty much it. The two main conflicts involve a dog killing and Bruce Willis's beard. Most of the film is just Robert De Niro driving around town trying to resolve these two issues. There is some meaningful drama between De Niro and his ex-wife, but it's underdeveloped. I can't imagine *hating* this movie like others have, because there isn't much there to hate, and what's there is enjoyable, if not memorable.Bottom line: Despite the cast, this is a very low-key film that succeeds in what little it's trying to do. If you're curious about it, go see it. If not, don't bother.Richard Yee, author of Deliveries: A Collection

2012-05-04 08:12:42

A terrible producer who doesn't realize he's terrible

I missed this in the theaters, but wanted to see this movie after watching "You Don't Know Jack" on HBO which was great. There are some good things about "What Just Happened?" but it is very disjointed. There are so many different stories going on that don't seem to gel into a coherent narrative. What makes the movie worth watching are the performances including De Niro who is great, Michael Wincott and Sean Penn in a small role. Bruce Willis is funny too, but the movie suffers from the same problem as "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." The writers in "Studio 60" were meant to be these geniuses, but when you see their comedy routines they are actually quite terrible. We are supposed to sympathize with De Niro's character because he has alimony and mortgage payments, but when we see what he's making it's all terrible. As we've all been conned into buying tickets for terrible films, it's hard to be sympathetic to a guy who is responsible for such things.

Rodrigo Amaro 2012-05-03 20:54:11

It's Hard Out Here for a Hollywood Producer.

At one time, Art Linson was one of the top film producers working inHollywood responsible for films like "Fight Club", "The Unotuchables","The Edge" and others. Some of his experiences in the film businesswere gathered in a book, and this book became this film starring RobertDeNiro, who plays a film producer that goes under the same issuesLinson had in his career. "What Just Happened?" doesn't add much interms of what we know about Hollywood and their secrets, doesn't havethe same sarcasm and bite as Altman's "The Player" but it is watchable,slightly funny and has its moments.It's tough to be a famous producer in Hollywood. You have to deal withegomaniacs actors who don't want to shave their beards to make a film(Bruce Willis plays himself portraying a similar event that happenedwith Alec Baldwin on the set of "The Edge") delaying schedules andbudget; the same holy man has to deal with actors agents, studiobosses, directors who are hard to handle because they want to protecttheir material, they wanna leave it as it was conceived (here comes thesickest joke of the film when the director within the movie filmed thekilling of a dog, which causes a shocked reaction at the film'sscreening test and DeNiro has to make the editor cut down the scene).And the same producer has to take care of his ex-wives and kids,release more films and work on new developments.The guy is beat down, has a weak influence on the town and even weakeron the people who seem to push this guy down to the ground. He has tostep down on everything and even when he thinks he's winning somethinghe gets fooled again. Bottom of line is: everybody wants to moveforward, no one can move one centimeter back because the only one whomust do that is the producer. But in the end everything gets solved,the picture is made and everybody's happy or at least close to thatsince you can't embrace all audiences. This movie didn't conquered everybody at all even with a super stellarcast with names like Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Robin Wright Penn,John Turturro, Michael Wincott, Kristen Stewart, Peter Jacobson,Stanley Tucci and the fore-mentioned Willis and DeNiro; the level ofdiscussion about the amount of dislikes here are bigger than theEverest; and with a budget of US$25,000,000, the return was pretty lowworldwide. But people missed the point of this film, and there is oneif you look real closer. It's all about how a man always closer to endhis career by making a giant mistake in one of his films has theability of surprise himself and others by letting things go. He getsmetaphorically beaten up by the system where he's a great star, doesn'tpunch back so much, seems to have all under control and when you thinkhe's heading for a disaster that might kill his career he succeeds it.But audiences can relate with him or the other characters? Difficultbut not impossible. It has its flaws, sometimes Barry Levinson loses the sense forsarcastic comedies ("Wag the Dog" was way better) and makes a film thattakes too much time to display a funny moment, I mean, the screenplaydoesn't work quite right. The great thing about the film is theperformances, all great, most notably DeNiro and Michael Wincott,playing a tough film director that sounds like Keith Richards, the guymentioned earlier for the dog scene, he steals the show. If the movie wanted to make its audience feel sorry for film producersout there who are trying to make their job done well it failed becausethey underestimate their audience, specially Hollywood producers, whoonly want money instead of showing a good spectacle. I don't feel sorryfor them, although in this film DeNiro makes of his producer such annice character compared to other producers presented in other films ofthe genre that you might feel different about the filmmaking processand how producers suffer a little bit. Good idea but it wasn'tsomething that people really wanted to see it with such a talentedcast. 8/10

finniruse 2012-04-29 21:55:35

What just happened!

If your going to make a movie about a making a bad movie, surprisesurprise, your going to end up with a bad movie!! Having left thecinema unable work out what the actual plot was - something aboutshaving a beard - I was reluctant to remember the name of the moviejust so I wouldn't waste more time recalling how poor it was. Howeveras my friend rightly pointed out that the title "What just happened" isperhaps the best part of the film, simply because you leave the cinemanot knowing how you were so violated by a film where nothing happenedactually makes it make sense.Just to give you a example of the audience's reaction I immediatelybooed, another guy shouted out "That film was sh*t" and anothermid-film shouted "shut up about Bruce Willis beard"! The one thing thatmakes me feel better is that this director will surely never workagain, touch wood. And I keep having flashing images of him sittingalone scoffing at his masterpiece alone in his downstairs cinemabasement that I somehow paid for.Please don't go see this movie, for yourself, for me, for the chance itmight pay the way for another film. Arrrgghhhh awful! How did it get7.8????

losriley-1 2012-04-29 21:16:00

Oh dear

This film was really poor. I went with two friends and they both reallyhated the film. People started walking out of the cinema halfwaythrough. Essentially the film is so condescending and self indulgent. Ihave no doubt that the movie luvvies who are parodied in the film loveit. However for the general public it is a real bore. The over loud gunreports. Bruce Willis wants to keep his beard, big deal.Robert De Nirois late for meetings, that's drama.The moments in the film that appearthat are meant to be subtle are laided on with a trowel. Big cast realletdown. Still I am sure everyone involved was well paid. And moviecritics will over praise the film to feel like they are part of this ohso wacky world.

Michael O'Keefe 2012-04-26 19:29:40

Not much to miss.

Based on personal memoirs of Hollywood producer Art Linson and directedby the famed Barry Levinson WHAT JUST HAPPENED is a fictional flickabout showbiz. Ben(Robert De Niro)is a struggling producer desperatelytrying to save two marriages and salvage two movies. His movie"Fiercely" is in a downward spiral after a disastrous test screeningand the studio head(Catherine Kenner)is not impressed slightly and iscertain that even lead star Sean Penn can't save it. Ben's upcomingfilm is in jeopardy because its star Bruce Willis has gainedconsiderable weight and is sporting a woolly beard...detrimental to hisaudience appeal. Hollywood is filled with deceit, greed and inflatedegos bouncing out of control. Even humor can't get too dark.Also in this star-studded cast: Robin Wright Penn, John Turturro,Stanley Tucci, Kristen Stewart and Michael Wincott.

Humphrey Fish 2012-04-26 16:42:38

Very Nice Work Robert! The Satire Is Great!

What Just Happened? I'll tell you what just happened. A lot of laughsjust happened, that's what. Hahahahaha! I wanted to see this moviemostly because of the fact that Robert De Niro's in it, and as usual,he was great! What Just Happened is a very funny movie that has gotquite a lot of laughs in it! There where quite a few scenes in thismovie in which I was laughing my head off, they really where thatfunny! Why did I love this movie as much as I did? Because it has gotRobert De Niro in it, that's why. No, that's not the only reason,another reason is the fact that the satire in this movie is simplygreat, this movie is a great satirical comedy! Now granted, this movieis far from perfect, it is not one of the greatest movies that I haveever seen, nor is it one of the funniest movies that I have ever seenin my life, but it still is a very funny movie that is find fun towatch and enjoy! So all in all, Robert De Niro has done it again, hehas managed to amuse me with his acting. I'm sorry, but when it comesto acting, that man just cannot fail.In this movie, there are a lot of very funny moments, so there may be afew spoilers coming up. There is a very funny scene in which Robert DeNiro gets into an argument with Bruce Willis because the latter won'tshave his beard for this one part in a movie. That scene had mylaughing my head off, it was so outrageous and unbelievable that it wasso dog gone funny! Robert De Niro's performance is hilarious at times,I guess that that only goes to show what a talented actor he is! I haveone thing to say to that man: Very nice work Robert, you did an finejob working on this very funny and witty movie, you have my applauds.Like I said earlier, this movie is not a masterpiece, but I still findit very enjoyable to watch.So all in all, while this movie is not the comedy of the year, it isstill very funny and entertaining! If you love Robert De Niro, then youwill most likely love this hilarious movie just like I did! When youwatch this movie, there will probably be a few times in which you won'tbe able to stop laughing! This movie is a very funny movie about aHollywood producer he is having a lot of trouble trying to get hismovie made. I'd tell you more, but if I did so, I would spoil the moviefor you. There is only one way that you can find out what happens inthis movie, you need to watch this movie for yourself! Watch this andenjoy it, because it's great!10/10

paty_pala7 2012-04-26 13:02:27

this... did not just happened.

This movie is bad, bad, bad. I was so bored that i stopped watching itin a half hour. I don't know if this movie is trying to show theaudience how in need of good movies Hollywood is or the director wasjust trying to make something different that didn't came out right.I really don't like that Sean Penn and Bruce Willis were playingthemselves. What was that for? I really don't know how a movie with somany good actors could just be so bad.I rented it mainly because Robert de Niro was in it, well, when i sawthat Kristen Stewart was also in it i doubted, but i decided to get it.Robert de Niro did not good at all, I mean lately he is not doing goodmovies, i don't know what has happened to old de Niro! I have nothing else to say apart from DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

davideo-2 2012-04-25 23:29:18

Satisfactory satire of the movie business

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Ben (Robert De Niro) is a an ageing Hollywood producer whose work andpersonal life are taking a toll on him. His latest problem stems from anew movie he's trying to get to premiere at Cannes, but he's havingtrouble with troubled artist director Jeremy Brunell (Michael Wincott)who refuses to change the ending involving a dog getting shot and BruceWillis being such an a$$hole and refusing to shave his beard! De Niro has always had an uneasy relationship with comedy, getting hisbest critical praise for serious, dramatic roles where his steelyintensity carries things perfectly. It's only in comparatively recenttimes he's gained a name for this genre, with his Analyze This/AnalyzeThat films as wells as Meet the Parents/Meet the Fockers. But heappears to be on more comfortably subtle ground with this satire ofHollywood and the entertainment business, filled with knowing in jokesand subtle references.Director Barry Levinson shoots things from a first hand perspective, asthe roller-coaster of Ben's life hurtles along in front of us, withsped up sequences and reeling off dream sequences. De Niro carries therole in his sleep, and he's aided by a neat little supporting cast(especially for such a short film) including John Turturro, RobinWright Penn, Catherine Keener and Stanley Tucci. I last rememberWincott in his unforgettable role as the villain in The Crow, but he'sa surprising appearance here and doing a fine Cockney accent as thetroubled artist director.This isn't a ground breaking or unforgettable film, but as a send up ofthe shallowness and excessiveness of Hollywood, you could do muchworse. ***