‘Rules Don’t Apply’ to Warren Beatty’s bizarre jaunt
No one is more qualified to map out a Hollywood nostalgia trip than Warren Beatty. The legend’s latest comedy/ drama Rules Don’t
Apply ( out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide) is refreshingly old-school, revisiting an era when Tinseltown trysts were mainly on the down-low and industry titan Howard Hughes was not cool with workplace romance. But the writer/producer/director/star’s first film in 15 years struggles with its tone and is a solid if unspectacular effort, though Beatty smartly takes a supporting role by playing the kookily eccentric Hughes.
Beatty doesn’t even show up until a half-hour in. By then, we’ve met the starry-eyed protagonists: Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) is a small-town Virginia virgin and ex-beauty queen who arrives in 1958 Los Angeles with dreams of becoming an iconic actress under her new boss, Hughes, and Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) is her driver, a California kid harboring big plans but also a fiancée (Taissa Farmiga) back home in Fresno.
Frank and Marla find a common ground in faith and sparks fly early. However, Hughes’ rule that employees can’t have a relationship with contract actresses — which senior driver Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick) constantly reminds Frank — gets in the way of their romance, then Hughes himself becomes a leath- er-clad roadblock for the pair.
Ehrenreich shows off a huge amount of charm from the start (enough where you see why he was cast as young Han Solo), though Collins showcases hers gradually over the course of the movie, as Marla has her innocence chipped away. (She also has a pretty singing voice, one that bewitches Hughes.)
The youngsters don’t spend as much time together as you’d hope: Personal issues have Marla reconsidering life apart from Frank, while he gets embroiled in Hughes’ business dealings.
Beatty is entertainingly weird as Hughes, nailing the rich man’s storied idiosyncrasies: skulking around in the shadows, not wanting to meet with an increasingly frustrated businessman (Oliver Platt), sharing hamburgers with Frank in front of his airplane and having TV dinners in an expensive bungalow with Marla. He has great chemistry with both Ehren- reich and Collins, though Beatty’s character, while fun to watch, tends to slow down the plot in key places.
The filmmaker has rounded up an impressive supporting cast, recruiting his wife, Annette Bening (as Marla’s uptight mom), plus Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Ed Harris and Dabney Coleman. Broderick really shines in this group of big-screen stalwarts — his Levar acts as the voice of reason for Frank amid Hughes’ stormy sea of crazy.
Beatty is as confident and stylish a filmmaker as he was on
Dick Tracy, Reds and his other directorial efforts, but Rules just never comes together as it should. The goofy comedy doesn’t jibe with the more serious themes of religion, family, teen pregnancy and casual sexism (a product of the time), and the shifting relationship dynamics between Marla, Frank and Hughes complicate matters.
But what Beatty does best is surround himself with a wealth of talent for a breezy affair that hits a retro sweet spot.