*Minor Spoilers Ahead* We get a brief scene to begin in 1964 where Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) is confined to a bed in a hotel. His handlers Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich), Levar Mathis (Matthew Broderick) and Nadine Henly (Candice Bergen) wait for him to respond to some false allegations. A biography of Howard has been written with some outlandish and scandalous claims and T.V. personalities are waiting by a phone for his response.
We then go back to 1958 and we are properly introduced to Marla Mabry (Lily Collins) and Frank Forbes. We also get to meet Marla's inquisitive mother Lucy (Annette Benning). They're both excited, prospects for Marla's future look bright but Howard's reputation precedes him. Frank has his own agenda for being in Hughes' employ (Frank wants to pitch him on a potentially lucrative real estate deal) but he's yet to meet him as well. Frank is just working as a driver right now but he's hoping to move up. Unbeknownst to either of them, although Howard is very protective of the actresses in his employ, he doesn't have much time for them. He's got his own problems and with his declining mental state, they're not going to be solved overnight.
Before I get into my critical thoughts on the plot, I'd like to say that the movie looks really good. I think everyone likes to take that nostalgic trip back to the golden years of Hollywood and the film definitely accomplishes that. The sets, the costuming and the cinematography are all really nice considering the film was made on a relatively tight budget ($25 million).
While the movie looks great, I would clarify that it's being advertised wrong. If you watch the trailer, it looks like a romantic comedy with Hughes as a supporting character. This movie is more of a drama with comedic bits sprinkled in. The movie flip flops on its tone severely, it looks like its setting up a romantic comedy and then that will just get thrown to the side for an entire act of drama. It becomes Hughes vs. the rest of the world for an entire hour. I wish it had just picked one because the seeds were planted for a really solid movie either way but sadly they couldn't.
What really saves this movie from itself is the performances from the actors and actresses. I have problems with how Warren Beatty wrote and directed this movie but he knocked it out of the park with his portrayal of Howard Hughes. Howard was a little before my time so I don't have any memories of him to point to but from how he was described to me, Beatty nailed all his eccentricities and the natural duplicity of his personality. I could have watched a movie with just him at the centre. This movie also cemented how talented both Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich are. Collins was the standout of the two for me but they both really helped make their characters interesting when the writing failed them. Its easy to see why Ehrenreich is on his way to bigger things and hopefully Collins will get that chance. There are lots of big actors in small parts (Ed Harris, Steve Coogan, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Hayley Bennett etc.) and they all do their jobs well. Matthew Broderick isn't in the movie as much as I expected and while he's fine, he's the one who suffers the most for the film's choppy editing.
I liked most of the characters that were included in the movie. Marla and Frank are easy to like both on their own and with each other. Collins and Ehrenreich's chemistry helps that along as well. They're both very straight-laced and proper but they're both eager to shed their respective skins. You also see why Hughes seemed to have a magnetism where people are just drawn to him. I would have been cool if Marla and Frank were the centre of the movie because they are interesting. Or the movie could have been about Howard's descent into his mental illness and that would have been great. The problem is the movie refuses to pick between the two and while I appreciate the ambition to have it all, they failed to execute that plan. I couldn't believe how poorly this movie was edited together on top of that. The transition from scene to scene is beyond rough and it was jarring more often than not.
Rules Don't Apply doesn't add up to the sum of its parts. That might seem like an oversimplification but that's really how I feel about the movie. You have great performances, great scenery and set dressing and characters you want to follow. Its too bad someone almost ruined the film by hacking it up in the editing room. They really swung for the fences but unfortunately they couldn't land the plane. I did kind of like the movie overall and for its good aspects I'll give it a 6/10.
We then go back to 1958 and we are properly introduced to Marla Mabry (Lily Collins) and Frank Forbes. We also get to meet Marla's inquisitive mother Lucy (Annette Benning). They're both excited, prospects for Marla's future look bright but Howard's reputation precedes him. Frank has his own agenda for being in Hughes' employ (Frank wants to pitch him on a potentially lucrative real estate deal) but he's yet to meet him as well. Frank is just working as a driver right now but he's hoping to move up. Unbeknownst to either of them, although Howard is very protective of the actresses in his employ, he doesn't have much time for them. He's got his own problems and with his declining mental state, they're not going to be solved overnight.
Before I get into my critical thoughts on the plot, I'd like to say that the movie looks really good. I think everyone likes to take that nostalgic trip back to the golden years of Hollywood and the film definitely accomplishes that. The sets, the costuming and the cinematography are all really nice considering the film was made on a relatively tight budget ($25 million).
While the movie looks great, I would clarify that it's being advertised wrong. If you watch the trailer, it looks like a romantic comedy with Hughes as a supporting character. This movie is more of a drama with comedic bits sprinkled in. The movie flip flops on its tone severely, it looks like its setting up a romantic comedy and then that will just get thrown to the side for an entire act of drama. It becomes Hughes vs. the rest of the world for an entire hour. I wish it had just picked one because the seeds were planted for a really solid movie either way but sadly they couldn't.
What really saves this movie from itself is the performances from the actors and actresses. I have problems with how Warren Beatty wrote and directed this movie but he knocked it out of the park with his portrayal of Howard Hughes. Howard was a little before my time so I don't have any memories of him to point to but from how he was described to me, Beatty nailed all his eccentricities and the natural duplicity of his personality. I could have watched a movie with just him at the centre. This movie also cemented how talented both Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich are. Collins was the standout of the two for me but they both really helped make their characters interesting when the writing failed them. Its easy to see why Ehrenreich is on his way to bigger things and hopefully Collins will get that chance. There are lots of big actors in small parts (Ed Harris, Steve Coogan, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Hayley Bennett etc.) and they all do their jobs well. Matthew Broderick isn't in the movie as much as I expected and while he's fine, he's the one who suffers the most for the film's choppy editing.
I liked most of the characters that were included in the movie. Marla and Frank are easy to like both on their own and with each other. Collins and Ehrenreich's chemistry helps that along as well. They're both very straight-laced and proper but they're both eager to shed their respective skins. You also see why Hughes seemed to have a magnetism where people are just drawn to him. I would have been cool if Marla and Frank were the centre of the movie because they are interesting. Or the movie could have been about Howard's descent into his mental illness and that would have been great. The problem is the movie refuses to pick between the two and while I appreciate the ambition to have it all, they failed to execute that plan. I couldn't believe how poorly this movie was edited together on top of that. The transition from scene to scene is beyond rough and it was jarring more often than not.
Rules Don't Apply doesn't add up to the sum of its parts. That might seem like an oversimplification but that's really how I feel about the movie. You have great performances, great scenery and set dressing and characters you want to follow. Its too bad someone almost ruined the film by hacking it up in the editing room. They really swung for the fences but unfortunately they couldn't land the plane. I did kind of like the movie overall and for its good aspects I'll give it a 6/10.