Two weeks in the life of a fading Hollywood producer who's having a rough time trying to get his new picture made.
A week in the life of powerful Hollywood producer Ben as he juggles negotiations with a studio head so that his newest picture can open at Cannes in two weeks, with a high-strung director who must make edits to the film, with an actor and his agent because the star has arrived on the set of a new picture with a full beard, and with his most recent ex-wife, Kelly, whom he discovers might have a lover. He also notices that his 17-year-old daughter from another marriage has been crying. What's up? Can Ben keep it all together, get the green light from the studio to go to Cannes, move his new picture past the beard crisis, and maybe return to Kelly's good graces?—<[email protected]>
During the course of an ordinary week in Hollywood, movie producer Ben must navigate his way through shark-infested waters as he struggles to complete his latest projects. A demanding studio boss demands extensive changes to a movie starring Sean Penn, while another chief won't greenlight a project unless star Bruce Willis shaves his beard. Meanwhile, Ben tries to reconcile with his wife and maintain a relationship with his teenage daughter.—yusufpiskin
A Hollywood producer, Ben (Robert De Niro), is suffering a number of professional and personal problems. Ben is attending a photo-shoot for the 30 most powerful producers in Hollywood, organized by Vanity Fair. Ben is worried about whom he will be standing next to.One of Ben's old friends, who was also a producer, has recently committed suicide due to the stress of being a Producer.
Ben witnesses a poor test screening for his new film, Fiercely, mostly because the hero (Sean Penn) is shot dead, along with his pet dog at the end of the film. Lou, the studio executive, was in attendance and saw that the audience response was not good.
Ben and his maverick British director, Jeremy Brunell (Michael Wincott), plead their case to studio executive Lou Tarnow (Catherine Keener). Lou is worried that the movie will lose a lot of money if changes are not made urgently. The review scores from the screening are abysmal and 91% people did not like the ending. 81% felt that the movie is too long, and 68% had an overall poor reaction to the movie. Lou says that with her suggested changes the movie would change perhaps $15 million, instead of $25 million that she stands to lose now.
She accuses Ben of filming the dog's killing only so he could use it as a "bargaining chip" to make it easier to negotiate against cutting other problematic scenes.Lou threatens to pull the movie from Cannes and hire an independent editor to re-do the film unless at least the dog's death is removed. Jeremy adamantly refuses, throwing a tantrum.
Adding to Ben's problems, he is having trouble making a clean break from Kelly (Robin Wright), his 2nd wife. Ben and Kelly are separated, and Ben has 2 kids with her. Ben still has feelings for Kelly, but she wants to move on. They still have occasional sex. After sex, Ben finds a single sock under Kelly's bed.In couple's therapy, Ben admits to cheating on Kelly while they were together.
Bruce Willis is refusing to shave the large, thick beard that he has grown, which will result in the studio pulling the plug on their new project. The studio is paying Bruce $20 million for the movie and have an expectation that he will be clean shaven as the audience demands. Bruce says that the beard is his artist choice as the character demands it.Ben tries to convince the studio about the beard, but the studio head tells Ben that he would fire Bruce, sue him for damages and then sue Ben for misrepresentation. This will in turn put a certain end to Ben's career.Ben's career hinges on the fate of the film, but any attempt to reason with Willis inevitably meets a violent, foul-mouthed response.Ben tries to have lunch with Bruce, but Bruce stands him up and sends a note that a lunch is not going to change his mind about his artistic integrity.
Jeremy relents & removes the scene where the dog is shot. Lou is happy and agrees to take the whole team to Cannes for the screening.A random girl named Laura (Moon Bloodgood) approaches Ben in the bathroom of an upscale restaurant and offers sexual favors with no strings attached. She says that she is a fan of Ben's work, but it seems that she is angling for a part in Ben's next project. Lauran ends up having sex with Ben.
Ben discovers that his 2nd wife is having sexual relations with Scott Solomon (Stanley Tucci), a married screenwriter who Ben has previously worked with. Ben discovers that Scott was wearing the same sock that he found under Kelly's bed.Scott has a screenplay that he's trying to get off the ground, which Brad Pitt later becomes attached to.
Ben tries to get Willis's agent, Dick Bell (John Turturro) to reason with him and get the beard removed, but his efforts only get Dick fired. Nonetheless, Willis does eventually shave his beard off when the studio threatens to sue Bruce for breach of contract, and the film goes ahead.
Zoe (Kristen Stewart) is Ben's daughter from his first marriage & was having sex with a Hollywood star who committed suicide & is now distraught.Ben, Lou, and Jeremy attend Cannes, but Jeremy has re-edited the film without telling Ben or Lou and is made even more violent with the dog & Penn being killed. Audience applauds, but Lou is not impressed, and immediately flies out of Cannes, leaving Ben stranded in France.Ben comes home, for a photo-shoot of Hollywood's top 30 producers with Vanity Fair, although after the debacle in Cannes Ben is relegated to the far edge of the photo, meaning he won't be on the magazine's cover.
Later, Ben reveals that Fiercely turned out to be a major blockbuster, but Jeremy was holding drugs in his suitcase and he's stopped at the airport, due to which he was sentenced to rehab.Lou Tarnow becomes the recipient of a major award for ushering in maverick talent like Jeremy and putting out successful, cutting-edge material. Although this previously contradicts her dislike of Jeremy's work.
Meanwhile, Brad Pitt dropped out of the film project that was written by Scott, who falls into a deep depression and starts drinking heavily while living with Ben's ex-wife. He is subsequently kicked out for this behavior.
Dick Bell on the other hand, still suffers from excruciating stress-induced stomach pain that prompts him to pull over to the side of the road while on a date.
