Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

SnoopyStyle Ben (Robert De Niro) is a Hollywood producer struggling to stay on top. His film Fiercely has a horrendous test screening with an ending of the villains shooting the dog in the head. Director Jeremy Brunell (Michael Wincott) insists on keeping it but studio exec Lou Tarnow (Catherine Keener) forces him to cut it or she pulls it from Cannes. Ben's latest movie is threatened with a shutdown unless he can get Bruce Willis to shave his beard. He has two ex-wives. He's jealous of the recent ex-wife Kelly (Robin Wright) who may have a new lover. Zoe (Kristen Stewart) is the daughter from his first marriage.Robert De Niro is being too serious. There are times when the story has good satire. It either doesn't take it far enough or De Niro gives it too much gravitas. It becomes a series of tired ugly unfunny situations. This is probably funnier on the page than on the screen.

LeonLouisRicci Here's the Test. Could You Find the Least Bit of Funny in a Scene where an A-List Actor is Paid Twenty Million Dollars to Star in a Movie and then is Asked to Shave Off a Lengthy Beard, Refuses, and then Throws a Tantrum Throwing Anything that isn't Nailed Down Around the Room? If the Answer is Yes, You Might Enjoy this Misfire. If the Answer is No, Forget this Mess.It is Only Mildly Amusing in Places and is Embarrassingly Bad Most of the Time. The Fun in Seeing Big Name Actors Play Themselves Wears Thin Quickly as the Cringing Begins Early and Continues for Nearly Two Hours.Robert De Niro, One of the Big Stars who doesn't Play Himself, is a Producer and this is His Life, or at Least Life While Making a Movie or Two. The Setbacks from Bad Press Screenings and Juvenile Behavior from Very Rich and Powerful People is the Story and it is Not that Funny or Even Insightful. You can get this Stuff from People Magazine. It is Maladjusted Mania of Mega Stars in a World that is Ironically Unattractive and Approaching this Thing is a Narcissistic Vent about Hollywood Seen through the Professional and Personal Eyes of a Movie Producer, and Surprise, None of it is Much Fun. When the Egotistical Bruce Willis Exits His Trailer it is One of the Most God-Awful Embarrassments that Movie Makers have Made Movie Lovers Sit Through. It is Suppose to be Charming but it Makes the Cringe Meter Explode.The Special Screening Cards that were Submitted on this Movie, Wait, On Second Thought One Doubts Director Levinson and Company had the Chutzpah to Try Any Advance Screenings on this Bomb. The Cards Would have been Brutal.

niamh-94 I really felt like the film was attempting to make an impact, attempting to make a point. Sadly however, it was only an attempt, and a fruitless one at that. Reading the cast list, you'd have thought it would be a gem, and as much as I think De Niro was good, he wasn't at his best. I think, ironically, the main failing in this film was that the producers and director didn't have the guts to make it work. The weren't bold enough, honest enough or original enough to get it to where it needed to be. Perhaps there was an element of high expectation when I sat down to watch it one rainy afternoon, and thus maybe that is why I have been left yearning for something more from it, but yet again, I see Stanley Tucci, a fine actor, a real talent, and an under appreciated one at that, in a mediocre film.

dbk-923-252984 Watching that film until the end was by far a worse experience than snorting a line of rock salt while having your privates connected to a car battery. Nope, haven't tried the latter but that's the worst experience I could think of at the moment. As some reviewers put it quite correctly, that is not a film intended for general audiences, not even for a cinephile having sat on a festival jury, endowed with an extremely open mind and an advanced understanding that not everything in life is ever perfect. It falls in the category of utter belly-button scratching and, by this, I don't even mean intimist. Okokok, so the acting is good. Yeah, big deal. Talented actors and directors don't make a film stand out if there is no substance to start with and this one's a perfect example of a known fact. It's only redeeming quality is that you could watch it with a force ten hangover and actually forget about your condition.