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There’s nothing Hollywood loves more than Hollywood. From breaking the fourth wall, to creating a farce of itself, Hollywood is great at identifying why it thinks it’s so wonderful. And we love it, because quite honestly the magic that is generated from that initial idea of “old Hollywood” creates a whimsical bubble, delving deeply into our hopes, fears, and dreams. For Warren Beatty’s Rules Don’t Apply, this formula continues to rely on the historical success of its predecessors, carrying the weight of a quirky comedy while delving into the reality of what “fame” really means.
While the film relies on real life events and what are surely stories from the time, it artfully develops a sweet love story between a budding starlet and her idealistic driver. The two develop a bond from the first time they meet as she arrives in LA to become one of Howard Hughes’ darling actresses. Their bond forms a friendship that quickly evolves into uncontrollable feelings for one another. Though their connection is undeniable, the rules are clear, and the two learn the hard way that love isn’t always enough.
Lily Collins’ Marla Mabry is charming and decadent, taking in a new life of excess that she would have never been allowed as a good Christian girl. While Collins has been stretching her acting legs for years, this was the first time she really shines on screen, growing into her own skin just as her character learns to do. Alden Ehrenreich (our future young Han Solo) has a pensive air that is hard to get past at first, but eventually grows on you as part of what makes his character, Frank, special. His work as Frank Forbes seems to be indicative of his acting style, relying heavily on an emotional reach that few young actors can achieve this early in their career. The two work well as a team, edging one another around magnetically onscreen, creating an intricate relationship worthy of old Hollywood magic.
Warren Beatty’s portrayal of Howard Hughes is heartbreaking. There’s a sense of loss sitting squarely behind his eyes, indicative of both his talent and extensive sight into the Hollywood scene. Who better to portray the eccentric mogul than a man who has spent his entire life living in the fantasy world Hughes so desperately kept afloat? While the film jumps around in an offputtingly charming fashion, the story is never lacking. Any issues you may run into concerning plot mostly wash away due in main part to this openly talented cast.
While the big ticket story is the budding romance between Marla and Frank, it’s the underlying nature of show business that perpetuates the interest into what will come next. Marla’s obsession with Hughes is indicative of daddy issues, but even so it’s all in the name of her potential career she’s been so readily promised. Beatty’s Hughes is at once likeable and despicable, choosing to indulge his fear mongering rather than seek a plausible solution to his problems. It’s sad really, a man with such command and power losing it to his own insecurities.
The idea that the “rules don’t apply” comes easily throughout the film, sitting tightly with the characters as they navigate what’s “right” and what’s “wrong”, further pointing to a fluidity in show business. Are there wrongs to be righted, injustices to care for? Absolutely. However, without these wavy lines our characters establish, would there really be a life worth living?
While there will never again be that old Hollywood sitting on the back lot and watching for the next big thing, it is historical fiction like this that keeps the genre alive, the feeling, the hunger. There will always be a need for entertainment, for stars. It is their stories that makes the whole lot that much more interesting to attend.
Rules Don’t Apply is now playing in theaters everywhere.
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