Movies about Hollywood are as common as Jolie babies, and there have been broader, funnier, meaner takes on the business than this one. But this Barry Levinson version of real-life producer Art Linson's memoir is more movie-savvy than any of them. Linson, who produced "Fight Club," "Into the Wild" and scads of other films, finally shows us what a "real" producer actually does.





"It's the Rose Bowl Parade meets 'The Da Vinci Code!'"

And an agent known and hated by all has just killed himself. Think of this as "Three Movies and a Funeral."

Add to that stress the weight of Ben's home life -- as in, he has none. He's got two ex-wives, including one he's still in love with, a trophy bride (Robin Wright Penn) who tired of his "work first" lifestyle and the ever-ringing phone.


DeNiro is the best he's been in years as this master negotiator who somehow can't seem to get anyone to do things his way, an unflappable operator who handles revelations about his kids and a brazen come-on by a starlet in a men's room as business as usual, nothing to lose your cool over. Linson, producing the film, and director Levinson see to it that Ben is not the movie-mogul-as-monster we've seen in "Swimming with Sharks" and other Hollywood roman a clefs. He's just a guy who multi-tasks, charms, lies and stalks his latest ex-wife because he has to.

It's Hollywood, and everyone's into yoga, Ecstasy and starlets, yoked to their Blue Tooth like a deal-sealing ball-and-chain. Yes, it's an inside-baseball movie in the extreme. But if you're into baseball, you'll recognize the lineup and grin at "What Just Happened?"

��� Rated R (for language, some violent images, sexual content and some drug material). Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes