“Rules Don’t Apply” is a charming and peculiar film.
It is notable for being the first movie that Warren Beatty has directed in 18 years. It’s not perfect, but this funny and well-acted movie is an enjoyable experience.
This movie mostly takes place in late 1950s Hollywood. Frank Forbes, a young driver and a devout Methodist, works for reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
One of Forbes’s assignments is to drive around Marla Mabrey, an aspiring starlet and devout Baptist. They tentatively begin a budding romance as their lives soon become entangled with that of Hughes.
Since he has not made any movies for a long time, I think a refresher on Beatty is needed. He’s an actor who has starred in such classic films as “Bonnie and Clyde” and “McCabe & Mrs. Miller.”
He’s also a director and producer with a knack for doing things that others don’t think possible. One of those things was making “Reds,” a 195-minute film that Beatty once described as being “about a communist who dies.” That movie won him an Oscar for Best Director.
In addition to directing “Rules Don’t Apply,” Beatty plays Hughes. He is charismatic and includes some of the tics that Hughes had in real life. His performance is even better when you realize that he hasn’t acted since the 2001 film “Town & Country.”
Beatty’s direction is imaginative. There’s a sequence where Forbes and Hughes walk and talk at night that is as well shot as anything I have seen this year. The filmmakers do an excellent job at conveying the film’s 1950s setting.
“Rules Don’t Apply” has an excellent cast. Alden Ehrenreich gives a quiet and endearing performance as Forbes. Lily Collins is fast-talking and sweet as Mabrey. Annette Bening is very funny in a too brief performance as Mabrey’s mother.
This movie is never bland. There’s a great running joke about the lengths Hughes’s staff will go to get him banana nut ice cream. With its characters’ frequent use of slightly awkward declarative sentences and the 1950s setting, “Rules Don’t Apply” sometimes resembles a David Lynch film.
“Rules Don’t Apply” has a few imperfections. In particular, the music is sometimes overly melodramatic. But it is ultimately an entertaining experience that is worth seeking out.
