REEL CRITIC:

Barry Levinson’s latest directorial effort “What Just Happened” is a lampoonish look at two frantic weeks in the chaotic world of a Hollywood film producer and the neuroses epidemic in a fame- and fortune-obsessed town.

Despite a first-rate cast that includes Robert De Niro, John Torturro and brief appearances by Sean Penn and Bruce Willis and several laugh-out-loud moments, the film is sabotaged by a slow pace that lets most of the air out of the balloon.

Robert De Niro is Ben, a tortured producer who is saddled with two ex-wives, a host of screwball hangers-on who always need something and, with the Cannes film festival rapidly approaching, his recently concluded feature film “Fiercely” needs revision and is disintegrating in front of him.

“Fiercely” includes a final scene depicting a murder where a dog is also shot and the audience previewing the film is thoroughly disgusted. Panic sets in with Ben and his co-producer Lou, played by Catherine Keener. The two will need to persuade the director of “Fiercely” to change the ending and that presents a huge challenge.

Enter Michael Wincott, whose over-the-top portrayal of British director Jeremy Burnell provides several of those laugh-out-loud moments.

Burnell is a walking drug casualty, a foppish fruitcake who sports a bed head and finger nail polish and who is obsessively clinging to the macabre final scene in “Fiercely.” It is Wincott’s work in “What Just Happened” that saves this film from complete mediocrity, and as I am writing this, I am still chuckling over a few of the funnier moments.

Levinson has put perhaps too much “insider” detail in this story, and I find it odd that despite all of the interesting touches that have been included, it is just not enough to overcome the boredom factor brought about by the sluggish pace.

As you can tell, I am a bit conflicted about the value of this film. “What Just Happened” is a difficult movie to recommend across the board. Much of the salty language in the dialogue will put off a fair amount of filmgoers, and the R rating will make it difficult for many in the younger crowd to attend. Removing or even softening the language would have rendered this film even more ineffective. And if you have ever been present on a movie set, you know what I mean. Almost everyone there curses like sailors, and it is a sad fact that many of them think that everyone else does too.

“Insider” stories are often difficult to pull off. It reminds me of an old Steely Dan tune with the line about “show-business kids making movies of themselves.” It’s like a joke that falls flat and is softened by the line, “I guess you had to be there.”

?JEFF KLEMZAK is a film fan from La Crescenta. ?JEFF KLEMZAK is a film fan from La Crescenta.