Breaking the rules

Rules Don’t Apply slogs through the life of billionaire Howard Hughes, an eccentric airplane designer and film studio owner who reportedly bedded young actresses in his employ. Warren Beatty, 79—the biopic’s director, producer, and screenwriter—reportedly brooded over the project for decades. Perhaps the admitted former playboy recognizes something of himself in Hughes? Yes or no, most viewers probably won’t relate to his celebrity excesses, but the trajectories of the wannabe starlets and groveling gophers might land uncomfortably close to home.

In 1958 (“Names and dates have been changed”), virtuous Baptist girl Marla (Lily Collins) arrives in Hollywood with her mother (Annette Bening) on the promise of a screen test. As he does for other aspiring actresses, Hughes sets up Marla with a chauffeur and a home in the hills, but delays meeting her.

Hughes forbids the help from socializing with the talent. Marla’s driver, Frank (Alden Ehrenreich), a recent Tinseltown arrival himself and Methodist who prays before meals, barely stifles his attraction to Marla. The film (rated PG-13 for sexual material including brief strong language, thematic material, and drug references) doesn’t caricature their faith or give it much depth, either.

Confusion clouds Marla’s starry eyes. Although drawn to Frank, who’s engaged to a girl back home, she keeps him at arm’s length because she perceives a movie role might hinge on romantic loyalty to Hughes. Marla’s desperation drives her to her first sexual encounter.

The film flops as a love story because of the icky circumstances, but Hughes is only partly to blame. His decadence poisons the people around him, but they lap it up, hoping for a few drips from their master’s cup. The not-so-well-heeled, too, can deceive themselves, believing the rule “You can’t serve God and riches” doesn’t apply to them.