Joey Magidson
There likely isn’t an audience member who will sit down to The Apprentice that doesn’t have a strong opinion about Donald Trump. Whether you find him to be despicable or the second coming, you know how you feel about him. So, this film does have a big hump to get over in depicting his early days. Unfortunately, this is a movie without much to say, so we wind up spending two hours with someone we already have a fully formed opinion about. Sadly, this is a Telluride Film Festival disappointment.
The Apprentice asks you to spend two hours with Trump and Roy Cohn. That’s a lot, especially when the end result doesn’t leave you with anything new. The intent of the film is to make them somewhat tragic figures, but that element doesn’t fully land. So, you’re just watching bad men get worse. At a certain point, it loses the novelty and becomes just a slog.
Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) is an up and coming businessman in the 1970s, in the shadow of his wealthy father Fred Trump (Martin Donovan). One night, he’s introduced to lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), who takes an interest in Donald. Helping the Trumps with a discrimination lawsuit from the government, he earns their trust, becoming a mentor to Donald. Ruthless, Cohn has rules that he lives by, which begin rubbing off on his protege.
As Donald begins his rise through the 70s and into the 80s, Cohn notices the changes within him. Trump is becoming more ruthless like he wanted, though at the expense of his relationship. We see Donald woo Ivana (Maria Bakalova), deal with the tragic story of his brother Freddy (Charlie Carrick), and exhibit many of the characteristics that have dominated the news for the last decade and change. By the end, the man before us not just believes his own hype, but is convinced that he’s a self made legend.
Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong are undeniably good playing these despicable characters. Stan is clearly relishing the opportunity, though he thankfully only sprinkles in the idisoyncricies that we know Trump to have. Strong is a force of nature, so you’re more interested in what he’s up to. They just don’t ever evolve into more interesting characters. They just devolve. Maria Bakalova is wasted, while Martin Donovan has very little to do. In addition to Charlie Carrick, supporting players include Catherine McNally, Mark Rendall, Ben Sullivan, and more.
Director Ali Abbasi tries a lot of visual tricks to keep momentum going, though the screenplay by Gabriel Sherman just doesn’t have a lot of new observations to make. Abbasi leans into the grit of New York City, evoking the filmmakers of the era, and it’s clever, but to what end? Sherman’s script never really finds the turn where Trump turned overly vile and Cohn had regrets about the monster he created. That’s just where we find ourselves in the third act of The Apprentice, so it rings hollow.
The Apprentice has no reason to exist. It just doesn’t. That doesn’t make it a bad movie, just one that is two hours without a fully formed point. The films at Telluride so far have been of incredibly high quality, so perhaps that just makes this one fall even shorter by comparison. You’ll be able to see for yourself soon, and your mileage may vary, but this flick just didn’t work for me.
SCORE: ★★1/2
It shouldn’t be about whether you like him or not it should be about what he can deliver for this country, he has Delivered!
Cover up the faces of those running and look at what they stand for!
1. It should be about if the film is good or not.
2. I can assure you that if we cover up the faces at look at the options, Kamala Harris would still have my vote.
3. Thanks for reading.
A very interesting point of view!
What do you mean by “wasted” for Maria Bakalova?
She has almost nothing to do and it’s a waste of a talented actress. There’s so little to the role. Hope that helps explain