Film Review: The Apprentice
Film
The Apprentice
Director: Ali Abassi
Scythia Films
In Theaters: 10.11
If you’re looking to get in the spirit of the Halloween season, it’s a great weekend to spend at the movies. Not only do we have the perennial classic The Nightmare Before Christmas coming back to theaters, we also have The Apprentice, a fact-based portrait of a madman building a monster that puts Mary Shelley to shame.
In 1970s New York, Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, A Different Man), the second son of outer-borough landlord Fred Trump (Martin Donovan, The Book of Life, Tenet), is eager to break out of his father’s shadow and establish himself as a man of means and power. When he meets famed anti-communist prosecutor Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong, Succession, The Trial of the Chicago 7) at an exclusive club, he sees someone who can get him to where he wants to be, and talks him into representing the family in a racial discrimination suit. Cohn maneuvers his way into a favorable outcome, despite the airtight case against the Trumps, and sees in Donald an ambitious and hungry potential protégé whom he can mold and control. As the young Trump begins to build an empire, he meets a beautiful model, Ivana Zelníčková (Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Bubble) with whom he begins a relationship, and watches with frustration as his older brother Freddie (Charlie Carrick, The Devout) spirals into alcoholism. As the Reagan ‘80s begin to boom, Donald and Roy find the dynamic of their co-dependent relationship shifting, especially as the deeply closeted Cohn sees the AIDS crisis coming for him.
Director Ali Abassi (The Border, Holy Spider) captured the look and atmosphere of the era almost perfectly, shooting on 35mm film in a boxy 1.85 : 1 aspect ratio, which allows for intercutting television footage from the era, as well as giving it the feel of a made-for-television movie, which seems very fitting for a film about a made-for-television persona. Some of the most interesting moments of the film involve television—seeing a fascinated Donald watching Richard Nixon’s resignation speech with fascination in particular. The screenplay by journalist Gabriel Sherman is well-constructed and deeply familiar with its subjects, and while The Apprentice is far from a flattering depiction of Donald Trump, the vast majority of what is depicted in it is well documented, and for all of their abundant abhorrent traits and practices, Trump and Cohn are neither elevated beyond the level of simply being people, nor pushed below it. The dynamic between the three Trump men—Fred, Donald, and Freddie—is a textbook example of stubbornness, pride, toxic masculinity and deep insecurity. If Donald is a sleazier and less intelligent Michael Corleone, Freddie is viewed as the Fredo of the Trumps, though he doesn’t go against the family, he merely decides to be an airline pilot instead of a businessman, which his father views as an embarrassing betrayal that makes Donald the favorite son by default. Freddie’s use of substances to escape the emotional abuse of his father and brother is heartbreaking, yet there is genuine affection between the two brothers—Donald simply has no idea what to do with it. The tumultuous relationship between Donald and Ivana is hard to dispute, with the films most controversial moment being its depiction of a shocking moment of violence that Ivana reported and later denied. As we see the Trumps in their most personal moments, Cohn, the malevolent, Machiavellian Mr. Miyagi to the young aspiring fighter, is kept more in the shadows because he kept his private life so guarded.
Stan is mesmerizing as Trump, disappearing into the character and capturing the mannerisms and facial expressions with an eerie accuracy without ever letting it become an impersonation rather than a nuanced characterization. It’s the definitive screen portrayal to date, and firmly establishes Stan as an actor to be taken seriously. Strong’s raw, terrifying power threatens to blows him off the screen, simply because there are few figures in history more fascinating and unnerving than Cohn. The life lessons and mantras that he imports to his pupil may seem blunt and on the nose, with quotes such as “No matter what they say about you, no matter how beaten you are, you claim victory, never admit defeat,” or “Deny everything, admit nothing.” Is it hard to believe that someone actually said these this plainly and unapologetically? Not if you’ve ever seriously studied the life of Roy Cohn. The rest of the ensemble is quite strong, with Bakalova and Donovan giving unforgettable portrayals of Ivana and the elder Trump, yet the film is ultimately the story of the relationship between these two men and the impact it would have on America.
The Apprentice is much needed counterpoint to Reagan, offering a far less rosy portrayal of the “greed is good era” and American’s anti-communist crusaders, illustrating the difference between freedom and free market, and how one is used to manipulate the other. Even if The Apprentice is dismissed as fake news by those who need to hear it most, it’s still essential viewing for those who want to understand how the most powerful myth of our times was born. –Patrick Gibbs
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