DeNiro is good again!? (What Just Happened (Blu-ray))

Member Name: shaneo632

Product:	What Just Happened (Blu-ray)
Date:	06/07/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good performance and smart script

Disadvantages: Doesn't go far enough

Robert DeNiro has been flagging somewhat in the last decade or so, delivering only a few servicable performances, notably in Meet the Parents and The Score, whilst tending towards more phoned in performances such as those in Meet the Fockers and also the painful Pacino and DeNiro team-up Righteous Kill. What Just Happened, whilst rather flawed, at least gets the old dog back into something resembling fighting shape, and shows that he still has it!

A big shot Hollywood producer, Ben (DeNiro), is forced to sit through a disastrous test screening for a new film that he producing, Fiercely, caused primarily due to the fact that the film's protagonist (played by Sean Penn, in a nice little cameo) is violently shot dead in the film's closing scenes. Despite the negative reaction, Ben attempts to aid the brash British director in pleading their case to the studio producer, who insists that he will pull the film from Cannes unless some changes are made. The director, of course, sees his artistic vision being tarnished, and throws a hissy fit. Ben tries to mediate everything, and if he can't do it, he may very well be out of a job himself.

As you can tell from this brief synopsis, it's a very knowing film that in some way seems to be a confession by DeNiro, fessing up to his recent spate of shoddy films, whilst Levinson himself is taking pungent potshots at the Hollywood elite that quash formula in favour of financially viable fare. It's a clever film that's a breath fresh of air, but it doesn't really go far enough with its lens to deem it anything more than a merely good film with a few good performers (notably Bruce Willis playing a disgruntled version of himself that refuses to lose weight and shave his beard).

Robert DeNiro delivers one of his best films in years, in this cleverly-written, insiders take of the film industry. Barry Levinson's film brightly illustrates the corrupting force of the capitalist nature of the industry, as well as the struggling artists who oppose it, and the weathered producers stuck in the middle.

Summary: A solid but somewhat muted drama