October 01, 2008 11:00AM EDT

Screen: What Just Happened?

What Just Happened?

Last week, the Tribeca Cinema Series was delighted to screen Barry Levinson’s latest picture, What Just Happened? Based on film producer Art Linson’s juicy memoir—and with only some names changed to protect the innocent—What Just Happened? is a riotous look at the mundane life of a cog in the Hollywood wheel. Robert De Niro portrays Linson’s stand-in (here called Ben), whose fortunes turn on such absurdities as Bruce Willis’s beard and one auteur’s obsession with a dead dog.

After the screening, Tribeca’s Paola Freccero sat down with Barry Levinson (and the audience) for a Q & A. Since What Just Happened? was made by and about Hollywood insiders, many of the questions focused on the meta nature of the film and on Levinson’s eclectic choices. “Most of the films I’ve made, the studios didn’t like, mostly because they didn’t fit into a comfortable box. Diner, The Natural, Rain Man… all had negative comment cards from test audiences. My favorite? About Rain Man: ‘I was hoping the little guy would just snap out of it.’”

What Just Happened? opens in limited release on Friday, October 17.