It's esoteric, and its audience is small, but if you're part of it, you know who you are.
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10/17/08
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What Just Happened (2008)
54
%
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Reviews Counted:128
Fresh:69
Rotten:59
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: What Just Happened has some inspired comic moments, but this inside-baseball take on Hollywood lacks satirical bite.
Theatrical Release:Oct 17, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $1,043,419
Synopsis: What Just Happened is a winningly sharp comedy about two nail-biting, back-stabbing, roller-coaster weeks in the world of a middle-aged Hollywood producer -- as he tries to juggle an actual life... [More]
Starring: Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, John Turturro
Director: Barry Levinson
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Reviews for What Just Happened
Forget inside baseball, this film comes across more like inside whiffleball than anything else--a simulacrum that looks sort of like the real thing but which never runs the risk of hitting as hard as the real thing.
10/16/08
It's as laid-back as any Hollywood movie about itself has ever been.
10/16/08
If truth is stranger than fiction, it's also, quite often, a lot more boring.
10/16/08
Top Criticfeels fresh and original thanks to Levinson's phenomenal direction
10/16/08
Even when popping pills, the characters come across about as glamorous as a car salesman with a flask in his drawer
10/16/08
...an amusing look at a dog eat dog culture where vicious battles are fought over whether or not a dog can get shot in make believe land.
10/16/08
Levinson's knowledge on the subject mixed with Linson's wonderland atmosphere of spoiled brats and spineless fools makes for a riveting, uproarious viewing experience.
10/16/08
Doesn't even consider itself surprising enough to tack on a question mark.
10/16/08
There's not a whole lot in What Just Happened? that would be out of place in a good SNL skit.
10/16/08
Top CriticHollywood loves to satirize itself using its own medium. But with few exceptions -- The Player comes to mind -- the laughs are rarely as wicked as they should be, and the skewers barely break the skin. So it is with What Just Happened.
10/16/08
It's another entertaining look at making films and a reminder that, with many of them, what goes on behind the scenes is the best part.
10/16/08
Jaw-droppingly arcane and dripping with self-regard.
10/16/08
A picture skewering the inanities of the filmmaking system needs more sharpness and bite than this one provides.
10/16/08
Every joke in Tropic Thunder, The Player, The Muse, I’ll Do Anything, even HBO’s Entourage is sharper, more incisive and funnier than those in What Just Happened.
10/15/08
It has dryly obscene, laugh-out-loud lines, and its portrait of Hollywood as a giant anxiety attack is fused by De Niro, who musters a desperate, nagging warmth beneath his grumbly facade.
10/15/08
Top CriticComing from a Hollywood background, I'm often asked about the social hierarchy of TinselTown. Here's an insider's snappy, satirical glimpse into that treacherous industry.
10/15/08
The script is sharp, and the ensemble cast a treat.
10/15/08
Levinson has assembled a fine field of actors, no question, but the going is too easy for them underfoot; movies about movies are old ground.
10/13/08
What Just Happened? is a doodle, but its aura of dread seems earned.
10/13/08
Top CriticLatest News for What Just Happened
February 28, 2009:
Showbiz satire starring De Niro and Willis offers inside look at challenge of moviemaking in Hollywood. 
More...
February 27, 2009:
Like the perpetual insider crap shoot and big bucks blown on questionable movie fare, Levinson is willing to take his chances on that backroom and behind the scenes pathological reality show drama known as Hollywood.
More...
February 08, 2009:
Like the perpetual insider crap shoot and big bucks blown on questionable movie fare, Levinson is willing to take his chances on that backroom and behind the scenes pathological reality show drama known as Hollywood.
More...
November 28, 2008:
UK Critics Consensus: Local Critics Warm To Changeling; De Niro Delights But What Just Happened Doesn't
It's Friday, there's a new raft of movies in the UK cinemas this week, but are any of them any good? This week the UK film hacks give us their opinions on Clint Eastwood's... More...
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