ShareThisBruce Willis just won't shave his beard, and there will be no movie unless he relents.The crisis is one of many chirping from a cell-phone headset that's always clipped to the ear of Ben, the Hollywood producer played by Robert De Niro in the insider dramedy "What Just Happened."With sweaty hands on the steering wheel in rush-hour traffic, Ben darts between meetings with ornery actors, slippery agents and his two ex-wives.He's worked his way to the top of the Hollywood heap, only to find himself mired in a mudslide that could carry him into oblivion. His latest movie, a piece of Oscar bait starring Sean Penn, appears from a test screening to be dead on arrival.He can't even go to the bathroom without money guys and desperate screenwriters tugging at his coattails. And then there's Willis and his Chia Pet beard, refusing to kowtow to studio demands that he shave, lest they pull the plug on his new action flick."What Just Happened" is based on the book by Hollywood power player Art Linson, who produced "The Untouchables," "Into the Wild" and, not surprisingly, this movie. Watching the film is like a visit to the sausage factory. From the inside, artistic integrity and human decency are secondary concerns to the financial bottom line and all-powerful ego.De Niro wipes away his tough-guy persona in favor of an on-edge, frazzled rainmaker who will sleep when he's dead, if his secretary remembers to squeeze it in. His character isn't all that much of a departure from his mobster roles, except for the fact that there's less backstabbing and dishonesty in organized crime than there is in Hollywood.De Niro is phenomenal here, showing a convincing vulnerability as a man who's insanely wealthy but incapable of enjoying the fruits of his labors. When he picks up his kids, he feels as though he's stepping back through time, into old lives. He's scratching his head, wondering what happened to his old favorite chair, and peeking underneath his old bed for evidence of his ex's latest sexcapades.Penn and Willis play exaggerated versions of their public images. Willis, in particular, is a standout, as a macho head case given to dressing-room-destroying tirades. He cuts Ben down to size with scathing insults.Catherine Keener is also strong as a viperlike studio mogul who grants favors and withholds promises with cold calculation to meet her profit-obsessed ends.And there is Ben, stuck in this swamp of broken dreams, with desperate people willing to step on his neck to get ahead. "What Just Happened" both starts and ends abruptly and abounds with so many inside references that it's doubtful those not interested in the movie business will be all that intrigued.But if you want to get a peek under the hood of Hollywood or just want to see Willis in a big, scruffy beard, "What Just Happened" certainly delivers.3 stars out of 4Rated: R for language, violent images, sexual content and drug material.Director: Barry Levinson.Family call: Not for kids.Running time: 107 minutes. (Pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Things get hairy for De Niro, Willis, Penn in 'What Just Happened'
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