AFI Dallas movie event and Robert De Niro appearance: What Just Happened

by John P. Meyer

Barry Levinson's latest movie, What Just Happened, chronicles a few hectic make-or-break days in the life of a Hollywood producer struggling to balance the pressures of his personal life against the inflated egos and enormous expectations of the people he deals with in the course of his work - including studio heads, directors, actors and agents.

It's a wild ride and a funny one, peppered with appearances by acting greats such as Robert De Niro (who plays the lead character of Ben), Bruce Willis (as a recalcitrant, temper-tantrum-throwing, Grizzly Adams-bearded version of himself), Sean Penn (also playing himself, but with less bombast), Stanley Tucci (as a screenwriter who may or may not be sleeping with Ben's ex-wife) and John Turturro (as a talent agent whose stomach ailment manifests at the most (in)convenient times). Kristen Stewart has a small role as Ben's daughter, Zoe, while Robin Penn Wright stands in as the ex-wife just referenced. Also notable are Catherine Keener as a tough-as-jagged-nails studio exec and Michael Wincott as the enfant terrible auteur who'll make no compromise for his art.

Lip-smacking lovely Moon Bloodgood steals five minutes of the show as a woman who knows what she wants (which is to get up-close-and-personal with a Hollywood power player) and has no trouble whatsoever getting it, thank you very much.

Reviews stemming from the movie's debut at Sundance this January were lukewarm, with some suggesting that the insider nature of the story might leave mainstream film viewers twiddling their figurative thumbs - but I've got to say I disagree. Sure, if you're a Hollywood insider (or someone on the fringes) this stuff will probably appeal due to its insightfulness, but if you're Joe or Jane Average from Palookaville you'll still appreciate the display of titanic egos just begging for a bursting, along with the delicious lampooning of their own personas by some of your favorite stars.

Following the screening, AFI Dallas CEO Michael Cain brought star Robert De Niro, director Barry Levinson and writer Art Linson up on the Inwood's stage for what turned out to be a very extended Q/A session; these guys chatted and fielded questions from the audience for 'round about 45 minutes, if my internal clock isn't too far off kilter.

Here are highlights of the after-show discussion:

* Bobby D. was first to read Art's book; he took it to Barry, who liked it for a film treatment. Mr. De Niro ended up acting as a producer on the film in addition to starring.

* "What some people find despairing, other people find funny." - Art Linson

* Filming was completed in 33 days.

* Guy in audience, to De Niro: "How do scripts normally get to you?"

Cain interjects: "Are you saying you have a script?"

* De Niro is working on a remake of the Giuseppe Tornatore film Stanno Tutti bene (Everybody's Fine)

* "(The opportunity of) working with Bob is big bait on a hook." - Art Linson

* "I give every script to Bob to see if he'll do it. And he almost always says no." - Art Linson

* "(People in the movie production business are) like snails on a glass window - you don't wanna slide down." - Art Linson, re. characters in the film

* "I like to get as much money as possible." - Art Linson, re. his preference for Indie pictures vs. Hollywood productions

* Audience question: "What percentage (of the incidents detailed in the movie), from 1 - 100, is an exaggeration?"

De Niro's reply: "I don't think anything."

* "'Independent movie' just means five people in a studio thought it wouldn't make money." - Todd Wagner

* "Stay with what you know and what you feel good about." - Robert De Niro, re. movie-making

* "I think when you just make a movie for commerce, it shows." - Todd Wagner

* De Niro tells a joke about an actor who immerses himself in a role: this guy gets a bit part in a play, in which his only line is "Hark, I hear the cannon roar." So he drills himself on this line, pastes it on his dressing room mirror and chants it backwards and forwards until it's ingrained in his psyche. Comes the day of the play, he anxiously awaits the third act and his cue to enter the stage, at which point there's this enormous "BOOM!" - and he says "What the fuck was that?!"

* Levinson's working on a TV movie (and series pilot) for an updated version of The Saint, the sophisticated Simon Templar story done previously in both a TV series (starring Roger Moore) and a film (starring Val Kilmer).

* "I think some things I did in Taxi Driver are funny." - Robert De Niro

* "Right now Hollywood is going through a period where they're not doing films about human beings." - Barry Levinson

* "I've never understood people who play golf. I like tennis." - Robert De Niro

* Next up for De Niro: a movie in which he co-stars with Al Pacino called Righteous Kill.

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