Review // Rules Don’t Apply

[projekktor id=’26206′]

After 15 years away from the big screen, Warren Beatty makes a successful return with his long gestating Howard Hughes passion project Rules Don’t Apply. The Academy Award winner writes, directs and stars in the film, which weaves together a tale of forbidden love and a fictionalized take on the later years of the aviation mogul’s eccentric life.

The film begins at the end, in a hotel room in 1964 where a group of loyal employees wait nervously for Hughes (Beatty) to call members of the press and denounce an author’s claim that he has lost his memory. But before we get that resolution, we are taken back to 1958 and introduced to Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich). A newly hired driver for Hughes, Frank is sent to the airport to pick up Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) – an aspiring actress and devout Baptist – and her mother (Annette Bening). Mabrey has been given a contract with Hughes’ RKO production company, but her mother has reservations about Marla working with the notoriously promiscuous producer. Frank immediately falls for Marla but, knowing that his boss has a strict policy about employees dating any of his actresses, he is forced to keep his love in check.

While his love struggles to get off the ground, Frank also finds himself becoming a part of Hughes’ inner circle and getting tasked with increasingly outlandish errands like fetching ice cream and riding shotgun during one of Hughes’ airplane joyrides. The parts of the film involving Hughes were my least favourite to watch. Beatty plays him as a bumbling fool, which gave his scenes a strange, almost slapstick feel. Thanks to the strong performances of Collins and Ehrenreich, I found myself much more interested in the burgeoning relationship between Marla and Frank.

The classic Hollywood aesthetic really shines through thanks to Beatty’s direction and his production design team. Many scenes look like they were pulled straight from one of Hughes’ old films. It’s difficult to say if any aspect of this film will get recognized this awards season, but if I had to put money on something it would be a Best Original Song nomination for the title track. The simple ballad performed by Collins aptly describes how Marla feels, and it was definitely being hummed by more than a few people as we left the theatre.

After the highs of a summer filled with blockbusters and sequels, it’s always nice to take in some more intimate, heartwarming fare, and Rules Don’t Apply definitely fits the bill. As long as you go in expecting a sweet love story and not a Howard Hughes biopic, you won’t be let down.

Reviewed by Kyle Miller.