For me,
one of the more sketchy descriptions of any film is the label “Hollywood
Satire.” It’s not that it can’t be done well, per se. But without the focus of a
specific purpose and narrative like Swimming
with Sharks or For Your
Consideration, they tend to come off as silly, obvious, smug, and well……you
saw Burn,
another new one is on the way, but it’s from Barry Levinson and it stars Robert
DeNiro. What Just Happened is the
story of a producer (DeNiro) trying to somehow survive the perilous straits of
his integrity. Joining Bobby D on the ride will be Stanley Tucci, John
Turturro, Kristen Stewart, and playing themselves in what are sure to be subtle
cameos – Sean Penn and Bruce Willis.
With a
cast like that, it could go either way, frankly. The script is actually the
first one from producer Art Linson, a guy whose name you’ve seen on everything
from Fight Club to Spartan to Heat. It’s based on his book of the same name, which is basically a more of a producer’s guide with anecdotes than a smutty tell-all (that explains why anyone notable would agree to be in a film like this).
The film
is set up over at Mark Cuban’s 2929 Productions, but there’s no word on whether
it’ll be part of his ongoing strategy to have every film come out in theaters, cable,
DVD, PSP, Sidekick 3s, and in pop-up books on the same day.