The Apprentice
Biographical story of (now) President Donald Trump, and his meteoric rise to fame and riches in the early 70’s to late 80’s – as the real estate mogul. His friendship with the morally bankrupt Roy Cohn, and his marriage to Ivana Zelníčková.
Direction
Directed by Ali Abbasi – whose work I have not come across before. He does a splendid job of giving a vintage look and feel – resembling the timeline.
This is complemented by brilliant set designs, costumes – and in both leads cases – hair and make up.
Cast/Characters
Sebastian Stan is Donald Trump in this film – and at times I thought I was watching the Donald Trump. From his body language – such as his frequent hand gestures. Even his tone of voice, the cadence etc and mouth/lip movement. I completely understand why he was nominated for this film over A Different Man. His early life is almost innocent and empathetic, before he becomes friends with the lawyer Roy Cohn.
Jeremy Strong is equally as impressive as the morally bankrupt lawyer Roy Cohn, the person who turns trump into the killer/winner. He too gives an impeccable performance, right down to Cohn’s head bobbing, closeted homosexual – who hates gays. He too scored a well deserved Oscar nod. Later in the film when Cohn is sick with AIDS, his persona becomes more empathetic – however he has turned Trump into the devil he once was.
Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan are equally as impressive in their performances as Ivana and Fred Trump respectively.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Set in Trump’s city of New York over the tough 1970s and 1980s when crime was at a high, and the city itself was almost broke. Donald is almost half decent when he first meets Cohn, who assists the family in their legal battle against the city.
Over the next decade and a half he builds his brand, building Trump Tower – the legal battle against the mayor at the time, as well as getting into the casino business.
The film does well the relationships that Trump has, namely with his extremely hard father Fred, who he has a tumultuous relationship with for most of his life. His brother Fred Jr – who Snr also had poor relationship with – feels like the only person who Donald truly loved or respected. Snr’s lack of respect of Jr for being a pilot may have been the foundation for his alcoholism and early death.
There is a 2nd act scene with him just prior to his passing that was added “for Hollywood” that could have been excluded. This probably would have made it for a stronger narrative as he had not been seen on screen for a time before this – and it was already known how much he loved and cared for his brother.
Other aspects of Trump’s life, like his first marriage to Ivana are portrayed well, as he pursued her (however her then marriage was not mentioned). This relationship too was both toxic and antagonistic. Bakalova, as Ivana was brilliant, showing heartbreak when with her husband, then all smiles in “public” to maintain their image.
Trump’s disdain of alcohol is mentioned many times, and in fairness to him, I wasn’t fond of them ‘making him drink’ early on in the film. His historic mention of his feeling about politics are mentioned too (ironically this film was released one month before Trump won his second term of Presidency).
One down I had was that the timeline should have been better shown on screen. For those who didn’t live through this, I had to Google the history of certain events (opening of Trump tower, Nixon resignation, Reagan administration etc).
Score/Soundtrack
The score is quite noticeable, and helps reflect the feelings of the time. It even humanises Trump in certain periods of his life, such as when h e loses his brother, his father finally respecting him, and later his arguments with his mother and then Roy (which was fabricated for the film).
Overall
A very solid film, which is only complemented by the performances of the cast, primarily Stan and Strong.
The entire setting of 70’s and 80’s NYC is practically flawless.
A very strong recommend. It almost makes me wonder if the REAL DJT has seen this and what he thinks of it?
4/5
You can also find my review on this episode on my podcast.
https://antandrymoviechats.podbean.com/e/the-apprentice-2024/
Or on YouTube (Please Subscribe)