Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Rules Don't Apply Blu-ray Movie Review

And neither does history, evidently.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 28, 2017

In case you haven’t heard, Warren Beatty’s been having kind of a rough week, so maybe we should go a little easy on him when assessing what exactly went wrong with Rules Don’t Apply. Beatty assumed quasi-auteur status with this piece, writing, directing, co-producing and starring in it, in a project that according to the featurette included as a supplement on the Blu-ray gestated for years before it came to fruition. Somewhat similarly to two other relatively recent films supposedly recreating a bygone age in Hollywood, Hail, Caesar! and Café Society, Rules Don’t Apply is strong on production design and cinematography but pretty haphazard in the narrative department. What’s truly peculiar about this piece, especially given the fact that it evidently took Beatty years to write and then film it, is how cavalier it is with the history it’s supposedly presenting. The film opens in 1964 when a book documenting the mental decline of Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty) is about to be released, something that could put the entire monolithic Hughes business enterprise in danger should its allegations prove to be true. The world’s press corps has gathered to await a phone call from Hughes, who wants to dispute the charges. Already history buffs may be scratching their heads—is this a fictional allusion to the once infamous Clifford Irving fiasco, which actually unfolded in the early seventies? (Those unfamiliar with this fascinating sidebar to the Hughes story may want to check out the equally fascinating Orson Welles manifesto F is for Fake, available on an old Criterion DVD.) The bulk of the film then segues back a little over five years to circa 1958, where the story involves ingenue Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins, daughter of Phil) arriving in Hollywood with her well meaning but slightly harridan-esque mother Lucy (Annette Bening), after Marla has been signed by Hughes to a contract with RKO. Okay, once again the head scratching in certain quarters is sure to be evident again, as film buffs will know that Hughes’ involvement with this once iconic studio lasted from roughly 1948 to 1955, and that RKO had actually ceased to exist (informally, at least) by 1957. With the film already on such tenuous “historical” footing, the rest of the narrative seems odd at best and downright weird at worst, positing an aging Hughes as a dangerous lothario out to bed as many starlets as he can, while Marla attempts to matriculate into a Hollywood lifestyle while falling in (forbidden) love with her driver, Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich), a newcomer to Los Angeles himself (albeit from Fresno), who is under strict orders from his supervisors in the Hughes organization not to take a “personal” interest in any of the starlets with whom he comes into contact.

Some online sources suggest it was actually closer to decades rather than mere years that Beatty spent grooming this “dream project” for its eventual big screen debut, something that makes Rules Don’t Apply’s ill fitting screenplay even harder to understand. What exactly is the point Beatty is attempting to make in this film? Hughes himself acts almost as a McGuffin rather than a real character, a plot device who exists merely to stand in the way of what is obviously a predestined relationship between Marla and Frank. That said, if Marla and Frank are indeed the focal couple of the film, why is Hughes even present, and why does Beatty go off on several tangents (especially in the film’s second and third acts), detailing Hughes’ increasingly erratic behavior? How are these two plot points organically interwoven? Well, in a nutshell (not to pun on nut, given Hughes’ eccentricities in the film): they’re not.

If Rules Don’t Apply fails as anything even approaching historical accuracy (everything from Jane Russell to the Spruce Goose is misattributed), let alone as an insightful depiction of the iconic character of Howard Hughes, it’s also a bit unstable even in documenting the nascent love affair between Marla and Frank. Beatty has stuffed so many ultimately irrelevant character beats into the film that the actual characters never seem to have room to breathe. What should be major subplots, like Frank’s desire to build a “Levittown west” outside of Hollywood are trotted out, given a moment or two in the Los Angeles sunshine, and then tucked away again. The film is also stuffed to the gills with what amount to cameos by a host of inimitable performers, including Candice Bergen, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Amy Madigan, Martin Sheen, Paul Sorvino, and Oliver Platt, but while Beatty obviously cashed in some chits to acquire this cast, he’s given all of these fine performers precious little to actually do in the film. Only Matthew Broderick, as a kind of middle manager named Levar Mathis, and Taissa Farmiga, as Frank’s “girl back home”, are given sufficient screen time to develop anything memorable.

Despite these issues, Rules Don’t Apply is bright and colorful and it has moments of weird energy. Performances are a bit uneven, and as Brian Orndorf mentioned in his review of the film during its theatrical exhibition, there are some manifest editing issues that make some transitions seem more than a bit abrupt, though the film is ultimately entertaining if never meaningful or really very involving. It at least might provide a bit of diversion from pesky news reports involving a mixup of envelopes.

Rules Don't Apply Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Rules Don't Apply is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Shot by the legendary Caleb Deschanel with Arri Alexa XT cameras, the film's visual presentation is undeniably one of its highlights. Occasional archival video of Los Angeles and environs is woven very artfully into the proceedings but which shows just a slight raggedness when compared to the extreme sharpness and clarity of the bulk of this presentation. Some relatively subtle color grading is at play, with an almost sepia toned ambience added at times and some nighttime scenes bathed in cool blue or gray tones. Other than these moments, the palette looks fresh and is quite vivid at times, especially in the brighter outdoor environments.

Rules Don't Apply Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Just in case the Oscar "scandal" du jour isn't enough to satisfy some, why was Rules Don't Apply's effective (if too often repeated) title song snubbed in the Best Song category? It's well rendered here courtesy of the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one which also perks up in some busier outdoor scenes or a couple of moments on the studio lot itself, as well as a crazy plane ride Hughes takes a few folks on. Dialogue is also presented cleanly and with good prioritization on this problem free track.

Rules Don't Apply Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• This Is Rules Don't Apply (1080p; 21:30) features some good interviews with several cast members.


• "The Rules Don't Apply" Performed by Lily Collins (1080p; 2:19)


• Gallery (1080p; 3:15) features an Auto Advance and Manual Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 2:26)

Rules Don't Apply Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Beatty is probably giving himself a pass by including an epigram by Hughes himself at the head of the film, one which states "never check an interesting fact", but the interesting fact about Rules Don't Apply is that it isn't even remotely factual. That then leaves the burden of the storytelling on how inventive and whimsical the screenplay is, and unfortunately this piece feels too cobbled together out of disparate elements, at one moment plying a farcical bent with regard to an enema bag and at the next moment going the melodrama route with an unexpected pregnancy. Keep in mind that Brian Orndorf evidently liked Rules Don't Apply at least a bit more than I did, and also rest assured that technical merits are fine for those considering a purchase.