(Check out Chris Reed’s The Apprentice movie review. It hits theaters Friday, October 11.. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
It is no hyperbole to claim that the 45th president of the United States, one Donald J. Trump, is a deeply polarizing figure. As the standard bearer of today’s Republican Party, he has transformed the GOP in his own image, making it the “Make America Great Again” contingent of a divided nation. But like all people do, Trump has evolved over time, and in The Apprentice, a new film from director Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider) and screenwriter Gabriel Sherman (Independence Day: Resurgence), we encounter him as a young man, as yet unformed, soon to be reshaped by the one-time consigliere to the mob (and criminal-adjacent businessmen), Roy Cohn.
The movie, which stars Sebastian Stan (A Different Man) in the lead, is far from comprehensive, setting its plot squarely within the confines of two decades, the 1970s and ‘80s. It’s all about setting up “the man, the myth, the legend,” though hardly through the hagiographic prism that such a phrase implies. We get down and dirty with Trump and his erstwhile mentor Roy Cohn (played by Jeremy Strong, Armageddon Time), examining their misdeeds alongside their humanity. They are not quite beasts (though Cohn is one of the 20th-century’s great villains), just very corrupt men.
When Trump appears at the narrative’s start, he is not quite 30, and very much still under his father’s thumb. Fred Trump (Martin Donovan, BlackBerry) is not a kind master, treating the son who bears his name, Fred Jr. (Charlie Carrick, The Wolf and the Lion) with the utmost contempt. At least Donald is trying to make it in the family business, even if that involves going door-to-door in the Trump tenements to collect cash rent. He has a dream, however, which is to redevelop the Commodore Hotel, next to Manhattan’s Grand Central Station and Chrysler Building. 1970s New York was in dire financial straits, however, and that part of the city seemed hopeless.
For that dream to become reality, he needs the support of the moneyed elite, and the ultra-connected Cohn—one-time Justice Department star in the 1950s, who sent Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair, but now a sleazy rainmaker—is his ticket to the big time. And why would Cohn help this pretender from Queens? Maybe it’s a crush (Cohn was gay, if closeted), but more likely it’s the joy of adulation: Trump initially worships him like the father he wished he had. That will change once young Donald tastes success, but such raw neediness and deification are clearly intoxicating.
Little by little, Trump gains confidence in himself and his instincts, to the point where he starts to see Cohn (whom he witnessed at a party having sex with a group of men) as a nuisance. Along the way, he meets a young Czech model, Ivana Zelníčková (Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), who initially puts him off but eventually succumbs to his persistence. Despite a hiccup over a Cohn-penned pre-nup, they marry, thereafter becoming a media-savvy power couple. Their relationship will devolve—and we witness a brutal marital rape—but until then they have a mutually beneficial partnership.
With the Commodore rebuilt, Trump turns his attention to 5th avenue—where he will soon erect his eponymous tower—and Atlantic City. Cohn is sidelined more and more (his good advice on staying away from the casinos ignored) as Trump secures his own position in society. As the AIDS crisis rages, Cohn’s lover first succumbs and then he, too, contracts the disease. Trump shows some loyalty, but not all that much. The apprentice is now in charge, with lessons learned and money in pocket. The movie ends with him preparing to work with his ghost writer on The Art of the Deal.
Director Abbasi was born in Iran and now lives in Denmark, where he studied filmmaking. In his previous two movies, starting with the 2018 Border, he explores the fine line separating our better halves from the monster within. The Apprentice continues this artistic interest, which helps explain why Abbasi is in many ways the perfect person to tackle this project, despite not being American. Plus, he comes with an outside perspective that helps him tell this tale with a dispassion that will no doubt enrage those who both love and despise Trump.
The film, though quite engaging and often very good, nevertheless suffers from some occasional ellipses in its design. At one point Stan suddenly begins to sound a lot more like the Trump of our present, and it’s not exactly clear where that cadence came from. Still, it’s good that The Apprentice mostly avoids caricature. I even found myself feeling slightly sorry for Cohn, who was as vile as they come. That’s quite the achievement, and is just part of the many reasons to see the work. If past is prologue, this is a solid introduction to the here and now.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
Ali Abbasi; The Apprentice
Post a Comment
