Review of Rules Don't Apply (2016) by Tvjerry — 29 Nov 2016

This movie purports to be about a young couple (Alden Ehrenreich & Lily Collins) that fights falling in love because it's against their bosses' rules. In reality (pun intended), their relationship is peripheral to the story's central character: Howard Hughes (played by the film's writer/director Warren Beatty).

Granted, their lives are greatly affected by the billionaire, but at heart, the movie's about Hughes' increasingly peculiar lifestyle and Beatty's eccentric portrayal. It's fun to enjoy the '40s period and watch the elaborate systems set up around the famous recluse.

The performances are good, the situations are interesting and the pacing never lags, but the plot rambles and never offers any kind of emotional involvement or compelling dramatic payoff.