Time: 123 Minutes
Age Rating: R16– Rape, sex scenes & offensive language
Cast:
Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump
Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn
Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump
Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr.
Director: Ali Abbasi

The Apprentice is the first movie about Donald Trump, who would be played by Sebastian Stan. I was initially skeptical of the idea, not only was I reluctant about a Trump movie being made, I also wasn’t sure that they could pull it off. I’m glad to say that The Apprentice turned out to be really good.

The film benefits from a sharp script, and serves as a compelling story about how power corrupts. The main focus of The Apprentice is the mentor dynamic/friendship between Roy Cohn and Donald Trump, and the film is essentially an origin story for the latter. We see Trump take all the lessons that he learns from Cohn and becomes the monster of a person we all know today. It is fittingly uncomfortable yet captivating to watch. Everyone already has their opinions on Donald Trump, and The Apprentice isn’t some revelatory bombshell that will change people’s perspectives on him. But that doesn’t make the movie any less effective or great. At the very least, it certainly doesn’t sensationalize or glorify him. It also doesn’t sanitize the events or shy away from Trump and Cohn’s worst aspects and actions, while making them still feel like real people. The film spans many years, and with it being a 2 hour long movie, there were only so many events in Trump’s life that could be covered, but I thought The Apprentice covered what it needed to.

The acting is definitely one of the highlights of the film. Sebastian Stan plays Donald Trump, and this certainly isn’t an easy job to take on. Trump is a difficult figure to play, not only is it difficult to find a human within him or an angle to play him, but it’s also hard to do it in a way that doesn’t just devolve into doing a parodic impression of him. People were wondering whether Stan had it in him to pull it off, and he absolutely does. At the start of the film, he barely resembles Trump, and over the course of the film, we see him gradually morph into the Trump that we know today, uncanningly so. Sebastian Stan incorporates the recognizable Trump mannerisms, vocal inflections and body language incredibly well, while never feeling like a parody. Equally impressive is Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, who is captivating to watch. The relationship between him and Stan/Trump was interesting to watch, especially the changing dynamic over the course of Trump’s rise. While she’s not given as much focus, Maria Bakalova is also really good as Ivana, Trump’s first wife.

Ali Abbasi’s direction is great. I really liked the grungy style, with the grainy filters being in line with the 70s and 80s periods that the film takes place in. The vintage imagery and handheld camerawork add to the aesthetic and style, and the editing and score are on point too.

The Apprentice is a captivating, compelling and unsettling biopic about Donald Trump, greatly directed, and with excellent performances from Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. Not an easy watch, but worth a watch nonetheless.