I’ll readily admit that I am probably not the target audience for Warren Betty’s Rules Don’t Apply despite that it reminds me of the last film I recall Beatty directing, 1990’s Dick Tracy (which is definitely in my wheelhouse).

And to be sure, the color palette he employs in this instance isn’t as brilliant as the one he used in that movie, though if you look at the trailer it’s actually not that far from it.

This makes sense when you think about it. Dick Tracy was based on a comic strip, so relying on a visual palette dominated by bright primary colors (reds, blues and greens, and contrasts between light and dark so  rich that at times it seems that they’re from a Caravaggio painting) adds an element of the fantastical to things, besides making it a bit more similar to the esthetic of the comic.

A toned down, though visually similar palette is apparently being used for Rules Don’t Apply, which also gives it a slightly surreal look.

Which may fit the subject matter, if they’re telling a story that’s also to a degree, a bit unreal.

Otherwise they’re making something that’s based on a real story more visually sumptuous, more unreal than it probably was, which I find frankly a bit irritating.