was planning on doing a film about Howard Hughes, and not only till a few years ago was the project actually green-lighted and news was that they had a cast and that Beatty would not only be starring in the film, but also having written the screenplay and was going to serve as director. This was very promising news to a fan like me because unfortunately I had never been able to see one of his films on the big screen, so I was hoping this one would be my first. The first trailer for the film emerged during the Summertime when you had your big budget films on display and while the trailer looked a little different than what Beatty has done before, I still felt that it looked like a film with promise and I was bound and determined to see it on the big screen when it arrived. Now as I am writing this, I have just come from a screening for his new film, Rules Don't Apply, and I must say that I was anticipating a light screwball comedy that would be more fun than anything else, but what I got was a film that will definitely be in my top 10 list by the end of the year and was another film that far exceeded all my expectations and turned out to be one of the year's best. The film's trailer truly did not do it justice and unfortunately a lot of the mainstream film critics are giving it average to mostly lukewarm ratings, which if I have to be honest, I don't truly understand and perhaps they saw a different film than I did. The other unfortunate thing is that Rules Don't Apply, is flopping at the box office and is going to lose the studio a lot of money much like Town and Country did back in 2001, which is why I initially thought that Beatty had retired from movies. Do not let any of this deter you whatsoever from seeing this great film though. I simply say this more as unfortunate news and to further add to the argument that what is popular and does well at the box office these days has no accounting for any artistic merit and what are sometimes fantastic films will unfortunately flop and not connect, or appeal to today's audiences. I think that alone is one of the key elements why this film is not doing well, simply because a millennial audience, who in a lot of ways controls what is big and what does well at the box office would simply not be able to connect with this film on any level. Many of those viewers would not know who Howard Hughes is, or really care for that matter and for a lot of them they unfortunately have probably never heard of Warren Beatty, or seen any of his films either. Also a period piece film that is far more intelligent than what the trailer would seem, would simply not appeal and go far beyond this audience's limited and sometimes unfortunately dull attention span. Luckily for anyone else who loves a good film, you are in for a real treat here. Beatty is back in full force delivering a brilliant performance that at times includes elements of a comedic nature, but also in a way he slyly pokes fun at Hughes and even his own past reputation as a playboy who was promiscuous and not altogether with what was going on. Beatty's Hughes is a man who clearly has done some very admirable things for his shareholders and business people, but as a man his values and what he stands for are not very reputable and also in some ways it could be argued that he may have early dementia, or something that is causing him to act and behave very strangely. The Howard Hughes story is interesting enough on it's own, but also as a bonus we are given a story just as interesting about two young people who are trying to make it in Hollywood, and how in a sense their personal beliefs, values and everything they stand for is ruined not only because of the Hollywood system, but also because of people like Hughes himself. The film has many laughs, but in an interesting contrast it also has darker elements that all balance out and work beautifully for the film. The film is far beyond entertaining and it also adds a fair bit of food for thought about one's actions and the role models and goals that we have and the things that can unfortunately cloud, or pollute them. This is the best ensemble cast performance I have seen this year and everybody is absolutely fantastic. Also the attention to details, costumes, makeup, music and the script and direction by Beatty is all top notch and among the year's best. I hope this does signal a comeback for Beatty because here he proves he still has so much talent to offer and I hope this will not be his last film, but many more will follow. One of the year's absolute best and a very misunderstood film.

religious beliefs. She thinks he's married because he once had sex . Anyway, I have to insert here: The Mathew Broderick character gets the Baptist joke mostly wrong. The opening goes, "Why do Babtists forbid you to have sex standing up?" The answer is: Because it might lead to dancing. Broderick says, "Do you know why Baptists think sex is bad?" IT IS WAY LESS FUNNY THAT WAY MATHEW. So I'm going to read more of the negative reviews and perhaps come back and counter any stupid arguments I find for why this movie isn't a great piece of movie-making. I cried in the end. I didn't think they would get another chance. Hooray! By the way, the rather sad classical musical theme throughout is my favorite: Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony, Adagio movement It's on YouTube. So is the new song: "Rules Don't Apply" .

the good in these types of mavericks without looking for the warts.Marla Mabrey lily Collins is sent to Hollywood by Mr. Hughes. She is a pageant winner with high hopes and moral ideals a devout Baptist and a belief that Mr. Hughes is a gentleman. Mr. Hughes has a stable of women he brought to Hollywood for screen test.This is a great comedy of misunderstanding. The first meet up between Hughes and Mabrey sees Marla prattle on about how grateful she is as Hughes eats a TV dinner,completely ignoring her, then hilariously picks up a saxophone and starts playing.When Hughes meets Frank Forbes Alden Ehenreich for the first time, Forbes tries to talk Hughes into real estate as Hughes goes on about venereal disease. These confusions end up showing how much interest and slack people are willing to give a billionaire while they reside in his orbit.Mr. Beatty has said that the film is about sexual mores of the 50s. That plays into it a bit and informs Frank and Marla's behavior as they meet and fall for each other and have complications from back home and in Hollywood. The biggest complication though is Hughes.The film covers five years in the life of Mr. Hughes though the events that take place, Hughes in Hollywood, the plane crash and the Clifford Irving scam, actually cover almost two decades . Many historical hallmarks take place. This is a frenzied film. The editing is quite unique, many scenes are often quick, bringing in just the necessary information to move to the next part. It is a marvel. It does lead to confusion a few times though. How much time passed between the first meet up with Forbes to the plane crash? Is Marla really waiting so long for the screen test that she starts to feel aged? Tiny quibbles. Mr. Hughes casts a giant shadow. And some of Beatty's scenes have great poignancy and drama. He is a paranoid records everything and could lose everything as he owns as his mind erodes. He is obsessed with legacy. First, he is daddy-obsessed because he believes, in a very telling scene, that DNA allows your father to still be alive in you. Marla writes a song for Frank based on a kind comment he had made to her.When Marla sings the same song to Mr. Hughes Collins is the perfect drunk in this scene , Hughes looks deeply moved, but we don't know if he is moved because his film Hell's Angels is playing in the background or because the song speaks to him. It's a great scene. Beatty has throughout his career played awed characters or cads. This film fills both those personas as Bugsy and Shampoo did . And Beatty has never been better. This is also as personal as anything he has done. Howard Hughes freaks out at seeing a small child early in the film, running out of the room presumably because children are germ farms. Later, an incident happens. Marla throws her drunken self at Hughes and ends up pregnant. When she confesses this to him, he is very rude. A bit later, he has to meet with Raymond Holliday tremendous work by Dabney Coleman to discuss selling his father's company. Raymond asks, "Who's DNA are you going to be in?" Much later in the film, some kids run around his bungalow, and he seems happy to see them. He has moved his interest in legacy onto children. He will confess this to Frank in the next scene. It will take Marla bringing there son to Mr. Hughes at the end of the film to enliven Mr. Hughes to go on record that a devastating book written about him by a Mr. Miskin, similar to Bliskin who wrote a book about Beatty is a hoax. Yes the two young leads come to Hollywood when Beatty did, screen test, one has a Murphy bed as Beatty did, but those are just fun details. Mr. Beatty took 15 years off to raise his children whom he obviously loves very dearly. The hero in the film is ultimately the child. If Love Affair was a love letter to his lovely wife and Bulworth was getting all his political ideals down and Town and Country was a comment on past behavior, Rules is a love letter to his children who are the most important thing in life.

Beatty's mind for decades. He moved me. It was clear why Hughes was a character that could allow Beatty to talk about very personal things without having to do it in first person. - Mia Farrow told Michael Caine between takes in Hannah And Her Sisters: "Woody is telling me things through you" - Here Warren Beatty is telling us things about him through Howard Hughes. A mass of contradictions that can only be explained in the heart and mind of an artist. I'm already a huge fan of Alden Ehrenreich right from Tetro and here he is wonderful, tender and real. Lily Collins is new to me but Annette Bening, well Annette Bening reminded me in her few minutes on the screen that she is one of the greatest actresses we've got. Death in Venice and the last image of Howard Hughes left me with a knot in my throat. I will certainly see it again, just as sure that Rules Don't Apply will be rediscovered in years to come.

and clothes and 50s sexual puritanism. The leads are, as Mr. Beatty said today, honorable actors with integrity. Nothing cheap or careless. We root for Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins. Miss Bening is funny and tough as the ingenue's zealot Mom. A ton of familiar faces get their moment. Apparently they like to work for Mr. Beatty. His mind goes faster than almost anyone's making movies so it's fun and satisfying to be swept along by his brilliance. As I watch the world around me lowering its standards, I bask in the depth of talent and pure entertainment in Rules Don't Apply. More please.

coming to terms with age, and not having one important person in your life who you can be intimate with.The romance part of the film is pretty interesting, with an outstanding performance from Collins, but whenever Beatty is on screen, you know just why the man is iconic as he is.It's very humbling to know that because of his out put in the last twenty years, this may be the last film we ever see him in, after all, it's been a pet project for him for over thirty years, and ironically, the time-frame of the film is almost the same as when Beatty first made it in Hollywood.The supporting cast are phenomenal, and it's a veritable who's who of Hollywood, new and old.For a $25 million picture, it looks very grand, and I'm really surprised that the film had no academy recognition, and I'm even more baffled to its devastating box office.Hopefully this will find a second home on home media, because it's a fascinating insight to tortured souls in Hollywood, and how the machine can make you the loneliest person on the planet, no matter how much money you have, or how many staff you have.Quite brilliant.

playing a secretary, handing papers, standing in the background, staring at the TV, on the phone? No, it couldn't be. Candice Bergen for goodness sake, an American icon. The thought muddled my memory of the film. I saw Rules Don't Apply again last night. Yes, it was Candice Bergen. Wow! What one will do for friends. On a second viewing I saw it as an unsentimental valentine to what it was, with a hopeful wonderous future beyond us way beyond us. I'll see it again soon and see what happens. Cheers Mr Beatty.

Goldman who also co-wrote such epic dramas as'ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST' and 'SCENT OF A WOMAN' . The movie also costars Alden Ehrenreich the new Han Solo , Lily Collins, Matthew Broderick, Annette Bening, Haley Bennett, Candice Bergen, Alec Baldwin, Oliver Platt and Martin Sheen. It's received mixed reviews from critics, and it bombed at the Box Office. I liked it though. Marla Mabrey Collins was an aspiring actress, that moved to Hollywood in 1958 to work for Howard Hughes Beatty . Mabrey was a devout baptist, from Virginia, that had never done so much as have a drink of alcohol, or engage in premarital sex. She was accompanied by her strict mother, Lucy Bening . Right away Mabrey and her driver, Frank Forbes Ehrenreich , are immediately attracted to each other. Frank has a fiancé though, and an affair between the two is strictly prohibited by their employer, Hughes . Hughes' bizarre quirks, and severe mental struggles, also cause challenges for their relationship. The movie is pretty interesting, and quite entertaining, at first; then it loses it's way a little, but it does come to a pretty satisfying conclusion. The performances are all good, especially Beatty in the lead; Ehrenreich and Bennett two very promising up- and-coming actors, that I really like right now are also good, but severely underused. Beatty's direction is adequate enough, but the script definitely could have used a few more rewrites. I still found the film to be mostly amusing, and somewhat interesting. Howard Hughes was a very fascinating person though, that deserves a much better movie 'THE AVIATOR' was much better .Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v 1M9osPwjfbM

and also from a religiously conservative background. Their instant attraction not only puts their religious convictions to the test but also defies Hughes' number one rule: no employee is allowed to have an intimate relationship with a contract actress.Everyone gives an exceptional performance. Keep in mind this film is not made for the Comic Book Movie fan. This film is made for adults by Adults. Please if you like to see something good then watch them and give it a chance!