What Just Happened

Eine nette Hollywood-Satire, die sich (nicht nur) über Hollywood lustig macht. Überdurchschnittlich ist der Film vor allem dank De Niros Schauspielleistung und dank des bärtigen, cholerischen und großartigen Willis. Inside Hollywood ist keine Witzsalve. Nicht jeder wird den Film unterhaltsam finden. Wenn man aber in der richtigen Stimmung ist (und wenn man keinen völlig anderen Film erwartet), kann man ihn meiner Meinung nach genießen. Na gut. Wir sagen ihm, dass er sich rasieren soll. (19.12.2010)

Producers are people too – Levinson’s adaptation of the book by Art Linson (a producer by trade) doesn’t offer anything particularly innovative. The intertwining of the story involving an unsuccessful film (don’t kill children and dogs) with Ben’s effort to make things right is imaginative except for the use of an unimaginative soundtrack, but it fails to take advantage of the analogy between the self-reverence of art and that of certain people. The film doesn’t have a proper beginning or ending; it rather goes in circles and allows the unchanging characters to behave only in the way we would expect from actors in a Hollywood comedy. The problem lies in the nature of the work, which is not exclusively comedic, as it plucks a not straightforwardly sad but somehow sadly deaf string. This is also due to De Niro’s tired performance, whose Ben doesn’t give the impression of being aggressive enough to succeed in the face of overwhelming competition. I like films set in the world of filmmaking, the biting ones showing us that not even the biggest stars lack a sense of humour. Unfortunately, however, this satire has only a set of poorly fitting dentures. 65% (16.11.2011)