The Apprentice (2024)
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
Premise: A story of the relationship between lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) and young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan). Cohn teaches Trump lessons in politics and business. Meanwhile, Trump romances his first wife Ivanna (Maria Bakalova).
What Works: Even before he entered politics, Donald Trump had been in the public eye for decades and through his various media appearances and tabloid scandals he had become a larger-than-life figure in American culture. The Apprentice plays as an origin story for Trump the public figure. It delves into the man’s early adulthood and humanizes its subject; in The Apprentice, Trump is a flesh and blood human being rather than the cartoon character that he’s become in the public eye. And although this movie does not flatter Trump, The Apprentice is not a hit job. Among presidential biopics The Apprentice approximates 1994’s Nixon in its empathy for its subject. Sebastian Stan plays Donald Trump and it is an extraordinary performance. With the assistance of the makeup, Stan embodies Trump and he gets the distinct vocal cadence and gait but Stan also gauges his performance, gradually becoming the person we know today. Also impressive are Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn and Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump. Roy Cohn is initially presented as a heartless lawyer with an unscrupulous ethic but Cohn is also humanized. He takes a liking to the young Trump and Strong reveals humanity along the edges of his performance. Ivana Trump is presented in a way that bucks her public image; she’s smart and ambitious and falls in love with Trump but their marriage is a casualty of Cohn’s mentorship and Ivana and Cohn share a sad but knowing moment at the end of the film. Sadness is the overall tone of The Apprentice; this is a tragedy in the same sense as The Godfather. The Apprentice is extremely well made. The filmmakers recreate the look of New York City in the 1980s and the cinematography has a distinctly analog look that suits the period. The storytelling moves at a clip while also allowing for moments of character depth. Ultimately, The Apprentice is really about the system of power that encompasses politics, finance, and media. In The Apprentice, Trump is the product and embodiment of that system.
What Doesn’t: There are a few places in The Apprentice where it feels like pieces are missing. As dramatized in the film, Trump expanded his business too fast resulting in serious financial trouble that led to credit problems and bankruptcy. This point is introduced but it’s not really resolved. The dissolution of Trump’s marriage to Ivana is also fuzzy. Their marital status at the end of the movie is unclear but the emotional status is clear and that’s probably the more important point.
Bottom Line: In the short term, The Apprentice will probably be praised or dismissed because of the political climate in which it was released. But this film transcends that moment. It is an extraordinary character study that is extremely well made and a scathing portrait of power.
Episode: #1021 (November 3, 2024)