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‘What Just Happened?’ Closes Cannes With A Whimper
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The rather uneventful ‘What Just Happened?’ was a fitting closing to a rather uneventful 61st Cannes Film Festival.
The inside-Hollywood satire finished shooting at last year’s festival. It stars Robert De Niro as a producer trying to get one film finished in time for Cannes and another off the ground.
Director Barry Levinson must have called in favors from a host of stars, many rumored to have worked for free. Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn, Bruce Willis, Stanely Tucci, John Turturro, and Kristen Stewart are just a few of the famous faces that turn up.
The Cannes screening was originally supposed to be the film’s world premiere, but Levinson and writer/producer Art Linson jumped the gun, screening it at Sundance to mostly negative reaction. They have since recut and tightened the film, and it is better but still a bit too tame.
The main problem is that other films like ‘The Player’ covered the same ground in much a much sharper way. The comedy in ‘What Just Happened’ isn’t as biting, the stakes aren’t as high, and some of the plotting isn’t as believable.
The one standout element is De Niro. He is at his likable DeNiro-est. But in my opinion, that’s not enough to move pic out of the must-rent category to must-see.
