Warren Beatty doesn’t want us to regard “Rules Don’t Apply,â€? in which he stars as Howard Hughes, as a Howard Hughes film. It’s actually a movie about late ’50s Hollywood, he says, and the sexual puritanism of the era. Indeed, Beatty doesn’t appear for a long while in this much-awaited film, which he co-wrote, directed and starred in — perhaps partly to prove his point that he’s not the main attraction. But come on — it’s Warren Beatty, a legend who hasn’t made a film for 15 years, playing America’s most famous eccentric, controversial billionaire. Of course it’s a Howard Hughes movie. And that’s not a bad thing, because whatever you think of the new film, Beatty at 79 retains much of that youthful charisma that’s made him a Hollywood fixture for more than a half-century. “Rules Don’t Applyâ€? brings together a who’s who list of on- and off-screen talent, looks gorgeous — and still feels strangely uneven and tonally confusing. But if you can get over that, it’s undeniably entertaining and at times, even mesmerizing. It’s Hollywood in 1958 — just three years before Beatty himself made his mark — and aspiring starlets are descending on the town, among them fresh-faced Baptist beauty queen Marla Mabrey (Lily Collins, a gorgeous Natalie Wood lookalike). She’s been invited by the reclusive Hughes to audition for his RKO Pictures. Once there, she realizes she’s just one of many aspiring starlets Hughes has brought in on contract. Marla’s handsome driver is aspiring real-estate developer Frank Forbes (the appealingly earnest Alden Ehrenreich). When Marla complains she hasn’t yet met Hughes, Frank admits he hasn’t met their employer, either. Suddenly, Marla’s ushered into a darkened hotel bungalow and served a TV dinner in tinfoil. Hughes appears, befuddled and amusing. He asks her name, plays some saxophone, barks into the phone to his subordinates. These include Matthew Broderick, Candice Bergen as a personal assistant, and Martin Sheen as Hughes’ CEO. The plot — often in short, choppy scenes unfolding pell-mell — careens like a pinball among Hughes. The young couple has obvious chemistry. There’s a catch, though. Frank, a Methodist and a virgin like Marla, is engaged to his hometown sweetheart. And Hughes, despite his own sexual dalliances, has declared that drivers hitting on actresses will be fired. The Marla-Frank plotline competes with Hughes’ increasingly erratic episodes — taking the cockpit for a terrifying ride while singing at the top of his lungs, for example. The film shifts uneasily in tone. Yet it’s distinctly watchable, even when perplexing us. Jocelyn Noveck is an Associated Press staff writer. Details ‘Rules Don't Apply' ★★ 1â?„2 (out of four) PG-13 Wide release Email Newsletters TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.