Movie Review ~ The Apprentice

Oh boy, I’m almost a little nervous even about writing a review involving politics at this stage in the game.  It’s all exhausting and part of the ceaseless churn of American politics crisscrossing with pop culture.  That being said, it’s hard to argue with the simple truth that few figures have left as enduring a mark as former President Donald Trump.  His continued influence on the country is both astounding and baffling, and there are moments that I remember when the reality television show he headlined for years was appointment viewing in my home for the sheer entertainment factor.  Did I own that first-season DVD set that would say “You’re Fired” when a button was pressed?  Maybe.  Now, I hang my head low.

Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, written by Gabriel Sherman, premiered at Cannes to a chorus of conflicting opinions. The film offers a fascinating yet polarizing examination of Trump’s early years,  ambitiously tackling Trump’s rise from unproven business mogul in the early ’70s through his ascent in the ’80s as the headline-grabbing staple of NYC tabloids for his slick deals and high-life living.  The film’s resistance to caricature demonstrates a peculiar reverence in its respectful and appreciative approach, keeping it grounded but also robbing it of much of the bombastic character we know today.

Against the backdrop of NYC during of time of excess (the early ’70s when drugs, real estate, sex, and fame were in high demand and priced accordingly), a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan, Dumb Money) is introduced to Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong, Serenity), the cutthroat lawyer best known for sending the Rosenbergs to the gas chamber.  According to Sherman, this pivotal meeting between the two men is the genesis of the Donald Trump who eventually married three times, allegedly defrauded his immediate family and numerous businesses, and didn’t win the popular vote but was elected President of the United States anyway by an outdated Electoral College process. 

Early on, it appears that Sherman and Abbasi are game to delve into the fuzzy machinations of Trump’s persona, focusing on how power, manipulation, and ambition run amok shaped his rise.  While they don’t shy away from a peek into the darker aspects of Trump and his legacy, his Machiavellian and deeply closeted mentor Cohn winds up being the electric, eclectic center of the film.  That could be simply due to Strong’s unforgettable performance but more so because Cohn was just a more interesting person than Trump ever was or could be.  Cohn had personality and taught Trump to prop himself up as more than a sheltered son into a larger-than-life figure who could define himself on his terms.

Although Strong’s portrayal effectively anchors the film, blending sly charisma with cruel menace, I give a lot of credit to Stan’s intense performance as Trump.  By now, we’ve seen numerous takes on the public figure, from large lampoons to more serious approaches, but they’ve all been in the same vein of poking fun comedy.  Stan leans away from that approach, building up his Trump slowly over the years, and the result is often astounding.  When the film begins, you might raise your eyebrows, thinking that many of the typical quirks are missing, but it’s because Trump hasn’t acquired them yet.  Smart actors like Strong and Stan know when to add these flavor notes to their work, and by the final frame, Stan has taken the character into a new dimension.

That same style contrast exists in Kasper Tuxen’s cinematography as it switches between crisp digital and grainy film stock.  Evoking the docudrama of the 1970s and nostalgia for the days of VHS and Betamax is immersively retro, but they can make the film feel as heavy as the fur coats worn by Maria Bakalova’s Ivana Trump.  Costume designer Laura Montgomery has a field day dressing Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) in Ivana’s glam outfits and the crisp suits the men sport as Donald finds his trademark wool and lengthy tie.  The entire production appears lavish from a distance, befitting its subject, but a closer inspection shows the artifice, which I’m guessing is also intentional.

Abassi is a filmmaker who thinks about all aspects of his projects, which is why the mixture of Martin Dirkov’s energetic but off-kilter score somehow manages to mix with the Euro-pop covers of American classics.  It all points back to the faux atmosphere created in The Apprentice that seems to be saying, ‘Look at how almost on the nose we have this!’ 

While it’s hard to deny that The Apprentice succeeds in capturing the messy energy that has long surrounded Trump and his family of followers, the film struggles to hold together as a tightly woven story.  Scenes can play like off-hand recollections rather than one strong narrative.  There seems to be an urgency in getting particularly revealing scenes on film (explanations of Trump’s hair, a graphic assault by Donald toward Ivana) but not the substantive moments in between that fuse the best biographical films throughout history.

Unsurprisingly, The Apprentice had a difficult time landing a distribution deal (would YOU want to possibly face off against Trump and his horde?), but it finally landed at the six-year-old Briarcliff Entertainment with an eyebrow-raising 44 producers in its credits.  The tumult in its release is an unspoken commentary on Trump’s enduring influence, even beyond the political sphere.  Like any discussion involving the businessman, it’s bound to be interpreted through whatever preexisting view you have, not on the sole merit of what the filmmakers have presented…and that’s unfortunate for the artists that have taken the work seriously.

A cautionary tale of unchecked power and a reminder that the rule breakers become history’s most contentious figures, The Apprentice shines brightest when the performances of Strong and Stan move to the center.  The narrative is ambitious but refuses easy answers, leaving much up to the audience’s interpretation.  That won’t sit well with many, especially so close to the election when everyone wants something firm to grasp onto.  Whether you see Trump as a liberator, a charlatan, or something in the middle, you’re going to react to what you see in some form.