Rules Don't Apply

"You're an exception. Rules don't apply to you."

Filmology Rating: 1.5 out of 4

I’m in the wrong generation to consider Warren Beatty a movie star.  The film that I know him best from is Bonnie and Clyde which I liked him in, keeping in mind that film was released over 40 years ago.  I have seen two other films that he has directed: Heaven Can Wait and Dick Tracy.  I found Heaven Can Wait to be a rather dull remake of a fantastic film, Here Comes Mr. Jordan, and Dick Tracy was a technicolor daydream that I still can’t completely wrap my head around who the film was made for.  Needless to say I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Beatty, with the understanding that I still need to see Reds, but I was excited for Rules Don’t Apply after seeing a trailer.  Rules Don’t Apply looked like a unique film about Hollywood with actors that I like.  The film ended up being a unique trainwreck.

Marla Mabrey, played by Lily Collins, and her mother, played by Annette Bening, arrive in Hollywood with a promise for Marla to have a big picture deal working for Howard Hughes, played by Warren Beatty.  The two are chauffeured around the town of stars by Frank Forbes, played by Alden Ehrenreich, and Levar Mathis, played by Matthew Broderick.  Hughes has one big rule for all of his chauffeur's, which is you don’t have any relationships with the girls that are under contract by Hughes.  Romantic heat does however start up between Marla and young Frank, who has ambitious dreams that lead him to deal with all of the insane tasks that Hughes has for him, while Marla waits anxiously to finally meet the man who gave her the new lifestyle she adores.  Eventually the two realize that the rules don’t always need to apply in tinseltown and start to pursue their relationship, but as soon as they do Hughes emerges from the shadows.

This film is littered with stars, including Matthew Broderick, Ed Harris, Taissa Farmiga, Oliver Platt, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Coogan.  I cannot wrap my head around why most of them are in this film.  Most of them are only in the film for a scene or two and, like most of the film, the characters themselves are pointless.  Why do you cast great character actors and give them nothing to do, you might as well cast someone from a local community theatre because the actor doesn’t have a chance to give a performance.  It’s close to a “blink and you miss it” scenario.  The casting director for the film was David Rubin, who also did the casting for films like Gravity, Game Change, and Charlie Bartlett, so he does have an eye for picking good talent so I’m going to put the blame on the script written by Warren Beatty and Bo Goldman.  Goldman was one of the writers for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the solo writer for Scent of a Woman so he does have some talent and Beatty obviously has talent after being nominated for Best Original Screenplay for Shampoo and Reds.  But the film lacks a focus that starts with the script.

The film cannot decide whether it wants to focus on the young couple or whatever Howard Hughes is up to.  At the exact moment you might find yourself interested in one of the storylines the film quickly whips you to other trying to act like the other one isn’t happening.  Beatty has been outspoken about being a Howard Hughes fan and that passion seems to have blinded him from telling a compelling story.  I also must state that I’m not a fan of Hughes, I found his womanizing, noratitic ways to be demoralizing to any human who had to deal with him.  The film doesn’t help my notions about Hughes if anything it elevates them to 100.  Hughes is never a likeable presence in the film and every second that the film focuses on him for most of the second act I’m counting the seconds to when the film will end.  

The editing team which consists of Robin Gonsalves, Leslie Jones, Brian Scofield, and Billy Weber all need to be put out on the street looking for a new job.  The editing of this film was atrocious.  A character would hardly finish a sentence before you would be off to the next scene while still trying to comprehend what just occurred.  I also have a huge problem telling how much time is passing and when the film does decide to tell me I find myself confused as to either why so little or why so much has happened that may or may not be shown.  The editors clearly had a hard time making something comprehensive from the mush that Beatty handed them and they failed in a spectacular manner.  
The only bright stars in the film are Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich.  Collins has yet to find the big take-off project that will launch her career, but after just winning the New Hollywood Award at the Hollywood Film Awards her big break cannot be far behind. As for Ehrenreich, he was the spotlight of Hail, Caesar! and he will soon be a household name when he plays Han Solo in the Star Wars standalone film.  The two clearly have chemistry which I was the film would have showcased more or even been the true focus of the film with Hughes being a secondary character.        

Sometime rules should apply to films, especially when you are blinded by passion and you cannot clearly see the road ahead.   

Rating: Skip It

-Jonny G