Film review: “The Apprentice” | Moviefone

“The Apprentice,” which hits theaters Oct. 11, feels both timely and timely as it turns the clock back to the late 1970s and 1980s, when Donald Trump was still a wannabe real estate developer looking for He worked for his father’s companies and dreamed of running for office. He built his own business empire, but initially – despite his family’s clear privilege – he lacked the necessary connections.

In his latest work, Ali Abbasi traces his rise to fame thanks to the Palpatine-like influence of the obnoxious, powerful lawyer Roy Cohn, and aims to dig under Trump’s skin to find out what led to the problem we have today.

Related article: Sebastian Stan plays a young Donald Trump in new film “The Apprentice”

Does “The Apprentice” work?

With the upcoming election on everyone’s lips, it’s time for a film to hit theaters that aims to explore where Donald Trump gets a lot of his business dealings and general beliefs. “The Apprentice” doesn’t attempt to fully portray the man, but that’s not the point; This is a narrowly focused story of his rise to business dominance in New York in the 1980s, thanks in particular to the support and advice of Roy Cohn, who sees something in Trump and promotes his less ethical side with a mantra that includes the phrase: ” admit nothing, deny everything” (sound familiar?).

Truth and fairness are entirely malleable to these men who use wealth and power to manipulate the world around them, and while the film sometimes seems to let Trump off the hook for his behavior, it is ultimately a compelling chronicle of his murky morals .

Screenplay and direction

Author Gabriel Sherman has spent most of his career documenting shady, wealthy, and powerful people, and he brings a lot of research to the page here. Focusing almost entirely on Trump, he has crafted a solid and credible development (although decentralization might be a better word) for the man on the side.

While The Apprentice’s script sometimes falls into the old trap of this-happens-then-that-happens storytelling, there’s enough meat on its bones to keep it from feeling stale.

Director Ali Abbasi has worked more from scripts he has written, including the great Holy Spider and the excellent Border, and has brought both horror and fantasy to the screen. He’s a good choice for a real-life horror story, and his Iranian-Danish background means he looks at the entire, ridiculous saga from an outsider’s perspective.

Bringing late 1970s and 1980s New York to the screen is no easy task, especially for a film that had to raise its meager $16 million budget from a patchwork of companies and investors. But Abbasi infuses his film with punk energy and keeps the story moving while getting a lot out of his two leads.

performances

Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong dominate the screen here, while finding support from the likes of Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan.

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump

Stan has had an outstanding year, delivering some of the best performances of his career between A Different Man and this year. His Donald Trump is less an impression of the man and more a channeling of his corrupt nature, although as the story progresses he becomes closer to the Trump as most people will know him. While his work on A Different Man is more likely to attract awards attention, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that this transformation will also yield potential trophies.

Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn

The ever-energetic Strong (who played the ambitious, neurotic Kendall Roy in Succession for several years) steps into the role of the powerful lawyer who seemingly set Trump on the path to who he is today. This is a bravura acting performance from Strong, who completely imbues Cohn with angry power, but also traces his slow decline as Trump rises to power and Cohn is affected by the AIDS epidemic among those around him and eventually himself (although he insists). Day of death on which he had liver cancer). Cohn is a fascinating, intimidating figure, a puppeteer whose creation eludes him.

Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump

Bakalova, best known for her breakout role in the “Borat” sequel, has less to do than her co-stars, but she brings spirit and, later, vitriol to the role of Trump’s first wife. She’s always eye-catching and works well with Stan.

Martin Donovan as Fred Trump

Trump’s overbearing father has had a huge impact on his life, and Donovan excels in the role, working on prosthetics to bring him to life.

supporting actor

There’s good work in relatively small (but influential) roles from people like Charlie Carrick (as Trump’s brother Freddy, who goes from high-flying airline pilot to addicted burnout) and Mark Rendall as Roger Stone, who, as we know, will later become a key adviser to Trump .

Final thoughts

Because of its controversial subject matter, “The Apprentice” is struggling for theater attention. There will certainly be those who will be disappointed that this doesn’t completely demonize the man (although some scenes based on more flimsy accusations certainly go that way, including the way he treats Ivanna), while Trump -Supporters will skip it and label it as left-wing propaganda and “fake news”.

But in its own right, it’s a worthwhile look at a very troubling person.

“The Apprentice” gets 7.5 out of 10 stars.

What is the plot of “The Apprentice”?

A young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), seeking to make a name for himself as the hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, falls under the spell of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the murderous lawyer who helped found the Donald Trump was involved, we know it today.

Cohn sees Trump as the perfect protégé – someone with raw ambition, a hunger to succeed and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Who is in the cast of “The Apprentice”?

• Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump
• Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn
• Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump
• Martin Donovan as Fred Trump
• Ben Sullivan as Russell Eldridge
• Charlie Carrick as Fred Trump Jr.
• Mark Rendall as Daniel Sullivan
• Joe Pingue as Anthony Salerno

(Left to right) Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn in “The Apprentice.” Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

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