By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Warren Beatty
Cast: Warren Beatty, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Broderick, Martin Sheen, Lily Collins, Annette Bening, Candice Bergin, Oliver Platt and Alec Baldwin.
Rating: Average.
Academy Award Winner Warren Beatty, directs, writes and acts in another film 18 years after “Bulworth” in 1998 and brings “Rules Don’t Apply” and the film could have been much better.
The movie tells the story of Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) a driver who meets the aspiring actress Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins) who wants to meet the excentric millionaire Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty).
In the moment that both Frank and Marla meet there is a connection. The main problem is when Marla meets Howard Hughes and they both have a passionate encounter.
Now Marla will have to decide if she wants to continue her career in Hollywood and be with the millionaire or she is willing to be with Frank who happens to be Howard Hughe’s employer and right hand man.
The reason why I mentioned that “Rules Don’t Apply” could have been a better film is because it was to slow and in terms of story there were elements that they weren’t needed or required.
In the other hand the film is very well acted by the cast, specially Warren Beatty who gives a good performance on Howard Hughes. Although I do think that Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” that also tells the story of the filmmaker and founder of the airline “TWA” is more deep and more real than this film.
“Rules Don’t Apply” has an amazing cast and like I mentioned before the movie needed work.
It’s a delight to see Warren Beatty direct and to see him act in this kind of roles that bring so much charisma and charm to his characters, which are brands that Beatty has been known through all his career.
The cinematography and the use of music cues of the film work at all levels. The contrast when Hughes is in the dark and the moments that he is outside his room with Frank work and that is one of the things I liked of the film.
Alden Ehrenreich, who we saw in the Coen Brother’s film “Hail Caesar” this year gives another good performance and hopefully we can see from him more in the future.
There were moments on the film that were too much and I was not convinced with Lilly Colins performance. I do think she can be a talented actress but hercharacter I never believed it was suited for her.
I admit that I had big expectations for this film for the cast and this type of movies that are period pieces, I do enjoy watching them but this film is to slow and I was not a big fan of some elements like the ending and there were moments where the character of Howard Hughes was getting on my nerves.
With that being said I was expecting a better result on a big comeback from Warren Beatty and I give a slight recommendation to “Rules Don’t Apply” which again was entertaining but I was not at all convinced with the result and I insist that the movie had potential to be a great film but it wasn’t the case.