Rules Don’t Apply

A virginal 1950s starlet (Lily Collins) and her driver (Alden Ehrenreich) chastely bond while working for the reclusive tycoon Howard Hughes (Warren Beatty, who also directs and co-wrote the script with Bo Goldman). After a 15-year absence from movies, Beatty finally fulfills a 30-plus-year ambition to play Hughes, but he seems to have let the project simmer too long; it’s a mess. Beautifully photographed (by Caleb Deschanel), gorgeously designed (Jeannine Oppewall) and conscientiously acted, but still a mess. Among the actors conscientiously striving to put meat on the bones of the limp, sketchy script—besides the highly appealing Collins, Ehrenreich and Beatty—are Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Paul Sorvino, Ed Harris, Oliver Platt and Steve Coogan. J.L.