Once Again On Howard Hughes-Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply (2016)- A Film Review 

DVD Review 

By Sam Lowell

Rules Don’t Apply, starring Warren Beatty, Lily Collins, Alden Ehrenreich, and a cast of many familiar faces from by-gone days, 2016     

Billionaires these days are a dime a dozen, well maybe not that cheap but they are relatively more common than fifty or sixty years ago when a billion dollars was more than just walking around money. And like today most of the serious billionaires kept a low profile. But a guy like Howard Hughes (and today a guy President-elect Trump) liked to keep his name before the public if not his face. That simply premise is what drives this Warren Beatty-directed and written story line in the film under review, Rules Don’t Apply, although one could argue that the presence of the huge figure of Hughes was just a cover for a classic romantic comedy about the on and off again romance of a couple of underlings in his organization with a little bit of drama about Hughes’ various financial doings and exploits thrown in. (By the way it had been a while since Beatty strutted his stuff in front of and behind the camera making himself AARP-worthy in the meantime-including the cover of their monthly magazine.)        

Let’s run out the string. In 1964 (who knows maybe earlier as well) there were serious rumors about Howard Hughes’ mental stability and his physical whereabouts (and of course if the former were true the fate of his companies whose stock prices would be seriously affected would come into play). The then notorious recluse was nowhere to be found and there was all kinds of speculation centered on a tell-all book published about Hughes, played by Warren Beatty himself here, and his condition. That is merely backdrop though to a flashback to 1958 and the start of his relationship with two underlings Frank (Alden Ehrenreich) who started out as a driver for his various “starlets” and who eventually became a trusted advisor and Maria (Lily Collins) a farm fresh beauty looking to make it in the bright lights of Hollywood and who had caught Hughes’ attention. 

Naturally Maria is bound and determined to meet Mister Hughes and become a star-if she had the metal. Of course Howard is mostly unavailable and hiding from something (maybe the ghost of his father who left him the original fortune that he built on). But Frank as driver and Maria as passenger are thrown together and everything point to some satin sheet time. Except the Hughes rule which did apply that no employees were to mingle with his “starlets.” Except that Frank was “married” to some hometown sweetie he grew up with. Except as well that Maria was a virgin incarnate. So for a while they played cat and mouse and finally when they do try to consummate their love there was some interference.  

That virgin status didn’t stop Maria from driving for the main chance-old Howard who really was at least in the film going off the deep end. The long and short of it was she and Howard had a one night stand- a one night stand that had Maria getting pregnant. And had her tearfully leaving Hollywood to go back to her normal life, maybe back to college. Meanwhile Frank, having brushed off his hometown sweetie also had been brushed off by Maria, and so he dedicated himself to moving up the food chain in the Hughes organization (an organization where you never knew from one moment to the next where you stood and so not for the faint-hearted dealing with the fickle Hughes). And trying to get Hughes interested in a middle income housing project he had dreams of putting together to make his own fortune.  

Then we flip back to 1964 and the mystery of where Hughes was and what his mental capacity was. He would pass that test with flying colors. But here is where the real deal comes in, the old boy meets girl story that had been thwarted for a while. Maria shows up, son in tow, to confront Howard with his progeny. But really to take up with Frank again if you ask me. Warren, nice use of the Howard Hughes legend to make your little romantic comedy. Yeah, he was a big figure and you were right to glide off of his charisma and mystery all boxed in a classic Hollywood boy meets girl go round. Worth watching-no question.