BEFORE: Steve Coogan carries over from "Despicable Me 3", probably for the last time this year, but he's my link to a few more Warren Beatty films - I started the year with three of those ("Reds", "Ishtar" and "The Parallax View") but at the time I didn't realize I'd be following that up with three more. None of these three were on the watchlist when I watched the first three - either way, Beatty will probably end up in 6 films this year, in a multi-way tie for, I'm guessing, 5th place.
I borrowed this one on an Academy screener from work, but HBO just started running it a few days ago, so I can watch it today without that annoying "For Your Consideration" subtitle popping up. I was also going to borrow "Miles Ahead" and "Arrival", but those are showing on premium cable now too, so I can add them to the watchlist for real.
THE PLOT: The unconventional love story of an aspiring actress, her determined driver, and their boss, eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes.
AFTER: I mentioned a few weeks back that I caught the first two aired episodes of that BBC show "Urban Myths", which re-told the stories about Bob Dylan trying to visit his friend Dave Stewart in London (which probably never happened) and also Adolf Hitler's troubles getting into art school (which probably did). Turns out they're never going to air that episode with Michael Jackson, Liz Taylor and Marlon Brando going on a road-trip together after 9/11 - since they cast a white actor to play Jacko, it's much too controversial, apparently.
But this film has that same sort of feel about it, being comprised mostly of anecdotes about Howard Hughes and his weird behavior, some of which might be true, and others which might be exaggerated. Having previously watched THREE other films about Howard Hughes as part of this project ("The Aviator", "Melvin and Howard" and "The Hoax"), it's hard for me to not feel like this film was cobbled together from events seen in those films, or that I've covered all this ground before. But since this film concentrates mostly on a period in the late 1950's to early 60's, the focus and approach do help to make it unique among the many films about the same man.
(I'm referencing "The Hoax" here, even though that film was set in 1971, not 1964, because there's a very similar plot-line there to something that happens in this film - namely that an author writes a biography of Hughes, which may or may not be factual, and Hughes makes a phone call to the press to denounce that author and his book. That's an awfully big coincidence, unless it did happen twice in real life, which is a bit unclear. The author seen in "The Hoax" was Clifford Irving, who I know is real, but in "Rules Don't Apply", this same situation is seen with an author named Richard Miskin, who may be a fabrication, I'm just not sure.).
But at its heart this film wants to be a love story, since two people in Hughes' employ seem to have feelings for each other, but they can never quite get on the same page, and the suggestion may be that this was largely due to Hughes and his eccentricities. He kept many young actresses in his employ, and had them chauffeured around to acting lessons, dance lessons, screen tests and such, and therefore also needed to employ a large number of drivers whom he could trust around the girls. The fact that no movie was in production makes this enterprise all rather suspect - and naturally, as one might expect, with so many young men and young women interacting, the chances of two people falling into a relationship were probably quite high.
Reportedly, Hughes had relationships with many young actresses over the years, but the film falls short of suggesting that he kept them on the payroll for just such a purpose. Since he also reportedly did not like to be touched or wear clothing in private, it's hard to see how he would have many relationships. This was partially due to injuries sustained in various aviation accidents over the years, which also led to a codeine addiction. Burn injuries, withdrawing from private life, a number of casual relationships - Hughes starts to sound more and more like Michael Jackson after a while.
But Beatty's portrayal also reminded me of Donald Trump (what doesn't remind us of Trump these days?) because he repeat himself often, was extremely egocentric, felt that everyone was out to get him, and had an obsession with TV dinners and ice cream, which was reminiscent to me of Trump's love for KFC/Taco Bell and flowery descriptions of the chocolate cake served at his resorts. It's true that Howard Hughes developed a love for Baskin-Robbins' Banana Nut ice cream, so much that he ordered his staff to get as much as possible (350 gallons) shipped from Los Angeles to his suite at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. The casino made arrangements to store it all in their freezer, and then a few days later Hughes decided he no longer liked that flavor, and demanded French vanilla instead. The Desert Inn spent a year handing out free banana nut ice cream to its guests, and as late as 1996 the staff reported that they might still have a gallon or two at the back of their deep-freeze.
Maybe this film isn't meant to be taken literally, because they do play fast and loose with Hughes' timeline - the part of the plot concerning his famous "Spruce Goose" plane is off by about 10 years, so maybe Richard Miskin is supposed to be a stand-in for Clifford Irving, which would be off by about 7 years? It's tough to say. But at least Warren Beatty resembles Howard Hughes much more than Leonardo DiCaprio did in "The Aviator", and we never see him descend here into full madness, like going months without cutting his hair or nails or saving his urine in jars. Instead he's just portrayed here as a wildly eccentric rich person who's a bit out of touch with reality, and changed his mind a lot.
Also starring Warren Beatty (last seen in "The Parallax View"), Alden Ehrenreich (last seen in "Hail, Caesar!"), Lily Collins, Matthew Broderick (last seen in "Manchester By the Sea"), Martin Sheen (last seen in "Bobby"), Candice Bergen (last seen in "Bride Wars"), Annette Bening (last seen in "Danny Collins"), Haley Bennett (last seen in "Music and Lyrics"), Dabney Coleman (last seen in "Moonlight Mile"), Alec Baldwin (last seen in "Still Alice"), Paul Schneider (last seen in "Café Society"), Ed Harris (last seen in "Snowpiercer"), Amy Madigan (last seen in "Pollock"), Oliver Platt (last seen in "Chef"), Megan Hilty, Paul Sorvino (last seen in "Reds"), Patrick Fischler (also last seen in "Hail, Caesar!"), Taissa Farmiga, Chace Crawford, Ron Perkins, Peter Mackenzie, Julio Oscar Mechoso (last seen in "The Forger"), Evan O'Toole (last seen in "Wild"), Marshall Bell (last seen in "Hamlet 2"), with cameos from Kyle Bornheimer (last seen in "Hail, Caesar!"), Joshua Malina, Michael Badalucco.
RATING: 4 out of 10 body doubles
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