Final Rating: 4/5
In one of many memorable scenes in The Apprentice, an exasperated Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) bangs on the door of notorious lawyer Roy Cohn’s (Jeremy Strong) apartment in the middle of the night. Desperately, he pleads with Cohn to help bail him out: Trump has just promised to a group of shareholders that he can get the city of New York to waive $160 million of property taxes on the Hyatt Grand, allowing him to turn a profit on a property every real-estate developer in the city had written off as worthless.
It seems impossible, but if Trump can’t pull it off, his career as a real-estate mogul will be over before it begins. Cohn, flabbergasted, promises to make it work. Trump smiles, gives double thumbs up, and proudly proclaims “I love you, Cohn! You’re the best.”
The relationship between Trump and Cohn forms the heart of Ali Abbasi’s film. The Apprentice explores how an ambitious young real-estate mogul became the man we all know as the 45th president of the United States. Though the film’s pacing is a bit slow, Abbasi’s knack for capturing an era and the incomparable cast make for an astounding and unforgettable presidential character study.
Apprentice spans 1973–87, starting with Trump’s attempt to develop the derelict Commodore Hotel into the Hyatt Grand, and ending with his first meeting with Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of his autobiography The Art of the Deal. Abbasi goes to great lengths to capture the look and feel of the era.
Early on, the film resembles exploitation films of the 70s with handheld, grainy cameras, subtly getting steadier and glossier as it moves into the 80s. Cinematographer Kasper Tuxen attempts to recreate the style of press cameras of the time, and nails it. Stock footage of New York is worked in seamlessly; when TV news reports break up some of the film’s montages, it’s difficult to tell if they are filmed for The Apprentice or real news reports from the time.
The soundtrack includes club hits from the 70s and 80s, injecting a palpable, disco energy into the faster-paced scenes. The result is a film that feels displaced in time, pulling the audience into its world completely.
The highlight of the film is the titular apprentice himself: Stan’s portrayal of Trump is easily the best put to screen. Stan treats Trump like a real person with personality and aspirations. Trump begins the movie as a bright-eyed young businessman, recognizably full of himself, but anxious about not fitting in amongst New York nobility. It’s a bit shocking to see Trump display genuine emotions like excitement, nervousness, even anger that’s anything other than performative.
Over time, as Trump becomes more successful, he never becomes less driven. His ambition fuels his turn towards ruthlessness, as his more personable edges are slowly, almost imperceptibly, filed off. Where many portrayals centre Trump as a fool, Apprentice paints a portrait of someone evil in a way that’s learned, honed over a lifetime.
On the other hand, the wealthy establishment are introduced in a high-end club, regularly indulging in expensive alcohol, drugs, and lavish, debaucherous house parties. Trump, by comparison, is a teetotaler generally uninterested in mingling unless it quickly and directly results in closing deals. Trump’s world is one driven entirely by ambition: everyone and everything is a tool for him to get ahead. If ever someone stops being useful to Trump, any admiration he may have had drains completely.
Over the course of the film, we see his reverence of Cohn turn to disgust, his kind heartedness towards his brother Fred, Jr. turn to contempt. With only minimal changes to its framing, Apprentice could be an uplifting film about a man refusing to break in the face of adversity. In a way, it’s a story of Trump achieving the American Dream. But Abbasi’s vision of that American Dream is cynical, one in which no Great Man becomes such without leaving a horrific trail of bodies in his wake.
The foil to Trump is his mentor, Cohn. Cohn takes Trump under his wing after being hired to represent Trump and his father in a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice alleging racial discrimination. Though the Department of Justice has a nearly ironclad case against the real-estate mogul for denying apartments to black people, Cohn is able to get the case dropped through a combination of knowing the right people and knowing who to blackmail. Working together, Cohn and Trump are unstoppable, regularly bending city officials to their will through money, intimidation, or blackmail. Cohn never admits defeat, makes his own truth, and is willing to do absolutely anything to get the outcomes he wants.
But there’s a sympathetic core to Cohn. In a show stopping moment, Cohn takes Trump aside to tell him about the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg trial, in which he was instrumental in pushing for the death penalty for two American citizens accused of espionage. In his mind, the Rosenbergs were enemies of America, and enemies of America deserve no mercy.
When Cohn does anything to win, he does it because he loves his country. His motivations are twisted – anyone could easily argue that helping Trump avoid taxes isn’t obviously in the best interest of the country (it’s value neutral at best) – but they’re sincere. More importantly, the sincerity of his love for his country betrays empathy in Cohn, a love for something other than himself, that’s simply not there with Trump.
The film is rounded out by a great supporting cast, including an unrecognizable Martin Donovan as Trump’s perpetually-disappointed father Fred, Charlie Carrick as his tragically beaten-down brother Fred, Jr., and a hilarious cameo by Bruce Beaton as Andy Warhol – who gets the best quote in the film: “Making money is art.”
Maria Bakalova also co-stars as Ivana, Trump’s first wife. While Bakalova is excellent in the role, the structure of the movie unfortunately leaves Ivana without much to do through most of the film, primarily using her to help characterize Trump.
Ultimately, that characterization is Apprentice’s greatest strength. Abbasi interrogates our society’s obsession with Great Men, while also threatening to change how the audience views Trump. Between the smart writing, inspired directing, and one of the best performances in Sebastian Stan’s already-astounding career, The Apprentice is an amazing character study.
Thank you to Star PR and Mongrel Media for the screener.
