The Apprentice (2024) Review!!

Synopsis – The story of how a young Donald Trump started his real estate business in 1970s and 80s New York with the helping hand of infamous lawyer Roy Cohn.

My Take – Now that Donald Trump has been reelected as the U.S. president, it is probably the right time to indulge oneself with this recent cinematic endeavor that seeks to dissect his evolution from a seemingly inexperienced grifter to one of the world’s most controversial, aggressive businessmen, long before he ever thought about occupying the main seat at the White House.

Though the title refers to the reality TV series Trump hosted for the first fourteen seasons, the Ali Abbasi (Holy Spider) directorial instead focuses on his relationship with his mentor, Roy Cohn, acting as neither a proper take down piece nor behaves like a glowing testimonial. Surprisingly, it’s much more nuanced and complicated than that. Offering a critical but measured depiction of a nasty character, while sparking interest and keep us engaged throughout.

Simply told, the film is more like a supervillain origin story considering how the main ambition here is to show how a monster was created after he lost any shred of humanity that was there to begin with as went on to adopt the credo that truth is pliable, resilience means never admitting defeat, and morality is optional when success is the prize.

Backed by excellent performances that heighten its gripping storytelling, the film is certain to annoy those who love Trump as well as those who love to hate him, as its narrative also offers a scathing assessment of American culture and American politics.

Mainly, it demonstrates persuasively that one of America’s most unique and distinctive personalities, and the rules that animate him, were actually crafted, molded and created by somebody else. It’s no wonder Trump sent an unsuccessful cease-and-desist letter to the film’s producers after it premiered and then went on to call it a “politically disgusting hatchet job”.

Beginning in 1973, the story follows Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), the young and ambitious VP of the family real estate development company, who is actively seeking to come out from the shadow of his domineering father, Fred (Martin Donovan). Left to mainly collect rent from deadbeat tenants, and amidst an unwinnable case after he and his father were sued by the Justice Department for housing discrimination.

However, Donald’s life shifts into overdrive once powerhouse attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) summons him to his dinner table. Cohn was previously an attorney for the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy and was the chief prosecutor in the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. But he is also a shady character on the fringe of right wing politics and recommends that the Trumps seize the initiative and counter-sue the federal government. With Cohn in charge, the case goes away with no admission of wrongdoing.

As a young Donald falls head over heels in love and eventually marries Czech model Ivana (Maria Bakalova), Cohn also guides Trump through the machinations of NYC politics, helping him take over a boarded-up Commodore Hotel, secure tax abatements from city government and ultimately transform the property into the Hyatt Hotel at Grand Central Station. Along the way, Cohn teaches an impressionable Trump his three rules: 1) attack, attack, attack, 2) deny everything, admit nothing, 3) no matter what actually happens, always claim victory.

It must be said that the look of the film is intriguing, especially how it is presented in a 1:33:1 aspect ratio. The film’s early parts look like grimy seventies 16mm, while it segues to a stylized, analog video look as we enter the eighties. At its core, Iranian-Danish Director Ali Abbasi and Vanity Fair and New York writer Gabriel Sherman argue persuasively that Trump was molded, almost created, by Roy Cohn, into a monster and the ridiculous figure of fun we know him as.

While it is surprising and a little disappointing that the film doesn’t go all in on the grotesque and extreme aspects of the Trumpian evolution. But it does show a side of the current US president that he would prefer not to be seen: an unexpectedly weak and malleable figure; an impressionable man who mistakes bullying for strength and views power as something to be weaponized. As Trump becomes more successful, he starts taking amphetamine pills, rapes his wife Ivana and undergoes surprisingly graphic liposuction and scalp reduction surgeries.

This on-the-nose Frankenstein transformation is cleverly spliced together with Cohn’s funeral scene. On the contrary, Cohn, who is first introduced as a diabolical figure who uses Trump as a pawn in his own desire for power. But as the film goes on, we see that Cohn, in his own way, grew to love Trump as a surrogate son, only to be discarded as his profile became toxic and he lost what made him so fearful of an opponent. His tragedy is almost Shakespearean.

If I had to pick one negative aspect, it would be how it doesn’t explore many of the film’s relationships in a deeper way. Some of the characters, like Trump’s family, feel a bit cut off from the narrative. Nevertheless, the film’s message is clear: Trump is Frankenstein’s monster, created by the United States’ power-hungry political and legal system, which continues to allow the successful to use their power with little restriction.

Performances wise, Sebastian Stan is phenomenal throughout. We see Stan constantly evolve in his portrayal of Trump throughout the film, gradually building the strange collections of quirks and tics that we know him by today. Jeremy Strong does a fantastic job of portraying Roy Cohn. He makes Cohn‘s death from AIDS, following Trump’s betrayal of him, moving despite his unsavory views and reputation for blackmail and manipulation. In supporting roles, an unrecognizable Martin Donovan and Maria Bakalova are also very good. On the whole, ‘The Apprentice‘ is a very well-acted and produced biopic that delivers an entertaining and surreal glimpse into a young Trump.