History YMMV / AnAlanSmitheeFilmBurnHollywoodBurn

** The HorribleHollywood overtones of the movie take a turn for the truly awful when you remember that Harvey Weinstein, who would later be revealed to be (and convicted for being) a serial sexual harrasser and rapist, plays a character in this film. Extra points for his character being a PI, as it was revealed that Weinstein hired PI agencies to intimidate his victims into silence.

** The HorribleHollywood overtones of the movie become ironic when you remember that Harvey Weinstein, the epitome of the trope in RealLife, plays a PI in this film.

* HarsherInHindsight: At one point, an agent mentions representing top action directors such as Creator/RichardDonner, Creator/MelGibson and Stuart Baird. All three directors would find their careers tanked within the next few years -- in Gibson's case because of controversies around his personal life, and in Donner's and Baird's cases because of ''Film/{{Timeline}}'' and ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' respectively. Subsequently, Donner only really worked as a producer prior to his death, Baird had to revert to his former career as an editor, and while Gibson eventually recovered with ''Film/HacksawRidge'', his career as both an actor and director remains a pale shadow of what it was when this film was produced.

* The HorribleHollywood overtones of the movie become ironic when you remember that Harvey Weinstein, the epitome of the trope in RealLife, plays a PI in this film.

%% SoBadItsGood: The song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp8u0SDrwBU I Wanna Be Mike Ovitz]]", winner of the Razzie Award for Worst Original Song. It has to be heard to be believed.

* SoBadItsGood: The song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp8u0SDrwBU I Wanna Be Mike Ovitz]]", winner of the Razzie Award for Worst Original Song. It has to be heard to be believed.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Creator/RyanONeal seemed to believe that he was in a more serious film than the mockumentary the film actually was.

** The whole premise of the film - a director seeing his work ruined by in-universe ExecutiveMeddling and unsuccessfully attempting to disown the finished product - could've made for a genuinely good satire of the film industry, but in practice the concept isn't really used for much except as a way for Creator/JoeEszterhas to [[TakeThat vent his spleen]] at the industry higher-ups.

** The whole premise of the film - a filmmaker seeing his work ruined by in-universe ExecutiveMeddling and unsuccessfully attempting to disown the finished product - could've made for a genuinely good satire of the film industry, but in practice the concept isn't really used for much except as a way for Creator/JoeEszterhas to [[TakeThat vent his spleen]] at the industry higher-ups.

** The whole premise of the film could've made for a genuinely good satire of the film industry, but in practice the concept isn't really used for much except as a way for Creator/JoeEszterhas to [[TakeThat vent his spleen]] at the industry higher-ups.

** The film itself could've made for a genuinely good satire of the film industry in the hands of a more competent production team.

* OvershadowedByControversy: While the film itself received a negative critical and commerical reception, it did spark internet discussion around the Alan Smithee pseudonym, which spread public awareness of who "Alan Smithee" really is, leading to the DGA retiring the alias in 2000.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** A director has seen his film recut by the studio behind his back. He's embarrassed about the finished product and wants to have his name taken off it. The studio heads agree to let him be credited under the standard Director's Guild pseudonym Alan Smithee. The only problem is, the director's ''real name'' is Alan Smithee.\\
'''You'd Expect:''' Smithee would change his own name. You know, like Hollywood professionals do [[StageNames all the time]]. After all, what kind of reputation could you possibly enjoy when your name is already synonymous with failure?\\
'''Alternatively''': He could treat the film as if it were one of the many other films credited to "AlanSmithee" that have nothing whatsoever to do with him, [[ButHeSoundsHandsome perhaps expressing sympathy over the anonymous director's travails.]]\\
'''Instead''': Smithee steals the only existing print of the film and holds it hostage. When the studio refuses to allow him to recut the film the way he wants it, he burns it. Smithee is committed to an insane asylum, and the studio ends up making a profit anyway when they produce a documentary about how Smithee went crazy.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: While the AlanSmithee pseudonym was a bit of interesting trivia at the time, it wasn't really enough to base a whole film around, considering that it usually ended up being attached to relatively low-profile films -- its highest-profile usages until that point were on ''Film/HellraiserBloodline'' and the TV edit of ''Film/Dune1984'' -- meaning that the film really needed a strong storyline to hang its hook on. However, the story's format as a (mostly) retrospective {{mockumentary}} instead ends up completely burying any potential the idea had, making for a story that falls far too much under TakeOurWordForIt, and ends up being hard to follow for anyone who isn't knowledgable about Hollywood politics.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: While the AlanSmithee pseudonym was a bit of interesting trivia at the time, it wasn't really enough to base a whole film around, considering that it usually ended up being attached to relatively low-profile films -- its highest-profile usages until that point were on ''Film/HellraiserBloodline'' and the TV edit of ''Film/Dune1984'' -- meaning that the film really needed a strong storyline to hang its hook on. However, the story's format as a (mostly) retrospective {{mockumentary}} instead ends up completely burying any potential the idea had, making for a story that falls far too much under TakeOurWordForIt, and ends up tedious and near-incomprehensible for anyone who isn't knowledgable about Hollywood politics.