In fact, the biggest crisis that afflicts fading producer Ben (Robert De Niro) in this exposé of the machinations of the industry town that is Los Angeles is that a belligerent megastar (Bruce Willis playing himself) refuses to shave off his unruly beard. Hollywood eats itself in What Just Happened? It's another play on The Player with a touch of Wag the Dog (another Levinson offering). Crucially this lacks bite and any sense of the ritual bloodletting that surrounds the pre-production of any big flick. Ben is a veteran producer who walks a fine line between pragmatism and sycophancy. And he's in trouble. His marriage is in tatters, the director of his next picture is a British loony and the film is showing all the signs of being a turkey.

Written by Art (The Untouchables, Into the Wild) Linson, What Just Happened? aspires to be deeper, funnier and more Machiavellian than it actually is.