Plot: What’s it about?
It’s now rather amusing seeing the title Rules Don’t Apply after Warren Beatty’s recent mishap at the Oscars. Of course, it really wasn’t his fault, but you get the idea. Rules marks Beatty’s first film in 15 years, and while I’d like to say it’s a worthy comeback, I’d be lying. That isn’t to say the film is a total loss, but it never really settles and finds it groove. Instead, the tone is all over the place and it becomes a rather dull affair before long. Not to mention that something about his performance as the reclusive Howard Hughes drove me nuts after a while. To be fair, Hughes might’ve very well behaved in this manner, but it grew tiring fast. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself and need to discuss the plot first, so let’s get right to it.
We begin in 1964 where a phone call from Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) is expected. He is to make a call to members of the press. It’s4:30 and Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) goes to check on Hughes only to find him unresponsive. We then cut back to 1958. Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) and her strict mother, Lucy (Annette Bening) arrive in Hollywood for Marla to audition for a Howard Hughes film. The two of them are strict Baptists from Virginia and Marla is under contract by Hughes and lives in a well-stocked home provided by him. Frank is their driver and chauffer. He’s under strict rules to never hit on Marla or any of the girls or else he’ll be fired. This is true of all the drivers working for Hughes as well. Marla’s mother eventually grows tired of this arrangement and the difficulty working for Hughes and suggests they move back to Virginia. Instead, Marla decides to stay behind. We also get performances from Oliver Platt, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin and Matthew Broderick. When I first saw the trailers for Rules I was expecting more of a lighthearted flick, maybe more comedic, but there’s far more drama here than I would’ve liked. I love the throwback to an earlier time, but the whole outing just irritated me after a while. It’s fine at first how they slowly reveal Howard Hughes, but once he starts to get more screen time, he grew tiring. It’s such a hard character to tolerate, especially for a film of this length. One that also moves at a rather slow pace as well. I quite enjoyed Scorsese’s The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead, but that was quite a different film and I preferred Leo’s take on Hughes more than Beatty’s. There are some nice moments between Collins and Ehrenreich, but they can’t salvage the rest of the film. The story does throw a few surprises at us, but I had a hard time caring about any of it. There’s just too little here of interest and Rules winds up as a frustrating missed opportunity.
Video: How’s it look?
Presented in a 1.78:1 AVC HD image, the film has a very (obviously) film-noir’ish look and feel to it. Shadows dominate in some of the interior scenes, the color palette is very muted and downplayed with some more natural tones dominating. A few of the scenes seemed a bit on the soft side for me, it could have been something that I was nitpicking, but that’s not to say it doesn’t look good. There are some very colorful parts to the film, but it stays true to its roots. Detail is sharp, contrast strong and viewers shouldn’t find much to complain about with this one as Fox has done a good job.
Audio: How’s it sound?
Likewise the DTS HD Master Audio track isn’t exactly the “stuff that dreams are made of” but it more than serves its purpose. Vocals are rich and pure, surrounds – used sparingly – do their job just fine and I think I even heard the LFE kick in a few times. It’s not the best-sounding track out there, but then again I don’t think it was supposed to be. It’s a passable effort, for sure.
Supplements: What are the extras?
- This is Rules Don’t Apply – A fairly straight-forward and standard EPK with all the usual boxes checked. We get some insight from Beatty (who both wrote and directed the film) as well as some comments from other members of the cast and crew.
- Music Video: “The Rules Don’t Apply” performed by Lily Collins – No further explanation needed.
- Gallery – A slew of production stills from the movie that can be played manually or automatically.
The Bottom Line
I think the heart is there behind this film, but I was hoping for something a bit more lighthearted and fun. Instead, the film becomes something of a chore to sit through. I also grew rather frustrated by Beatty’s performance and the character of Howard Hughes. Skip it.
