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Sundance: What Just Happened, The Broken
The continuing saga of Sundance rose to greet me bright and early. I tried to outwit the clock and finish up my work from yesterday during the twilight hours. The time of day when all there is to do is watch absurdly early morning news, or listen to the sounds of sleep all around. By the way, being groggy-eyed while everyone around you sleeps tends to make you forget the evening before when you slept whilst they toiled away.
It seems that Park City is intent on teaching lessons to this festivalgoer. Probably one of the more important ones is the necessity of planning two hours for a meal. All of the restaurants we have been to so far take 20-30 minutes just to get us a menu and take our order. After that it’s a draining hour-long wait until someone gets a plate of food. This morning found us breezing into town with all the time in the world (remember my shuttle suggestion? It still works). Our morning restaurant of choice had other, much more nefarious, plans for the remaining CB Crew. Rather than make a plate of eggs and some French toast in a reasonable amount of time, we waited for 25 minutes before I had to give up. There was a screening to catch, so I cancelled and headed on my merry way. But not before receiving some free pastries for my belly. Sadly, dear reader, the screening was not meant to be. The leisurely pace of the restaurants in Park City claimed another victim. Just beware if you have a schedule to keep in town, time has a tendency to slip through your fingers. Below are reviews of the two films I did get to see. The first was a fun ride along with a Hollywood producer, and the other made me wish bad films could result in the flogging of those responsible. What Just Happened? 
It’s unlikely there’s any movie at Sundance this year that’s more star-studded than this one. That was said by a wise man in a review earlier at the Sundance Film Festival. Unfortunately, he had little idea that there’d be a movie featuring a Grisly Adams looking Bruce Willis (or “Admiral Willis” as the name on his trailer indicates) throwing around clothes and telling Robert DeNiro to suck his balls. Sean Penn preening for another award nomination, and Willis threatening physical violence during a funeral makes for an interesting cameo smorgasbord.
What Just Happened? follows two weeks in the life of Ben (Robert DeNiro), a struggling Hollywood producer whose had much better times in his life. The trouble begins with Sean Penn’s latest film, an artsy thriller titled Fiercely that is supposed to screen at Cannes in two weeks. Unfortunately the director, Johnny (Mark Ivanir), has chosen to ruin Ben’s life by having the main character’s dog murdered at the finale. You have to wonder if Barry Levinson bet a colleague that you could murder a dog on screen while making the audience laugh simultaneously. If so, he succeeded and someone owes the man a crisp five-dollar bill. Ben’s trouble doesn’t end there as Levinson spirals his life out of control. Bruce Willis shows up a week before shooting on his new film begins with a bushy beard. The studio wants it shaved because they paid twenty million for a “leading man.” Rather than intimately examine this aspect of Hollywood, Levinson is instead showcasing the absurdity of all facets. No part of the greasy wheel is safe, even the agents. It may or may not be an all-together honest look, but it’s entertaining. Following Ben along on high-powered meetings, shouting matches with A-list stars and funerals where he finds out his daughter is a bit more mature than he had realized works because DeNiro has so much fun with the role. What Just Happened? is just enjoyable, that’s the best way to put it. Based on the autobiography by Art Linson, the movie is a look into some real aspects of Hollywood. The plot is based on actual events, and so there is a lot of inside commentary. The humor gets repetitive at times, but Levinson switches up the pace with stylish cuts that wash away the bland aftertaste. The immersion into the life of Hollywood never bludgeons you over the head, which is surprising with the parade of cameos and inside jokes. It’s doubtful the average moviegoer will enjoy a movie so focused on a world outside their ken, but to those who obsess over the movie industry What Just Happened? is an amusing way to spend an evening.  The Broken 
Horror movies have a lot of work to do in order to garner my respect. The reason is simple: Growing up with gore fest films, and being immune to the jump scare tactics of the amateurs, I need a little intelligence with my thrills. When I was assigned The Broken, Sean Ellis’ latest thriller, I was cautiously optimistic. The premise, mirror people attack their real life counterparts, sounded intriguing. And for about 28 seconds that was damn good, but then the clichés began piling up.
The story is almost non-existent. There are simply people who come out of mirrors and kill their doppelgangers. At no point is the origin of the mirror people explained, or even hinted at. They just are, and you have to accept it. Ellis does a decent job setting up some visually nice pieces, especially a slow-mo car crash. It was so good he decided to use the same thing repeatedly. Because nothing says “look at what I did!” quite like shoving it in people’s face. Lena Heady tries her best to make the movie work, and as a leading lady in a thriller she works perfectly. For horror fans this film might be worth a look. That is if the inexplicable mirror people story was the only thing happening. But it wasn’t. The other “plot” of the movie was apparently placing as many horror clichés within the film as possible. Mirror images not moving when the person does, girl in a bathtub, loud noises meant to scare the audience, creepy dude scaring leading lady while she stupidly searches a darkened area, and the list goes on. It goes on so much that you wish someone would shove their fist in your mouth and strangle you. By the end we’re supposed to care about the predictable, and inane, twist ending. Hell, what’s one more piece of trite filmmaking? We’re never told if the mirror people are taking over the world, battling the remaining normal humans, or what. This is fine, because no one gives a shit. RELATED: review, bruce willis, robert deniro, film festival, sundance, the broken, what just happened
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