- THE APPRENTICE
- Starring: Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong
- Directed by: Ali Abbasi
- Rating: R
- Running Time: 2 hrs 2 mins
- Briarcliff Entertainment
Our score: 3 out of 5
Nominated for two Academy Awards including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading (Sebastian Stan) and Supporting Role (Jeremy Strong), the biographical drama “The Apprentice” is so unflattering that it the current president threatened a lawsuit to stop its release before last year’s election. Its story is as dirty and disgusting as its realistic depiction of a blighted, crime-ridden New York City in the 1970s. What makes it so impactful, though, are the incredible, even transcendent performances by Stan and Strong. If all you thought Stan could do was play a guy with a metal arm, then you are sadly mistaken.
The film takes us on a thirteen-year journey starting in 1973 that spans the rise of a young Donald Trump (Stan, “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier”) who we find is struggling to get out from under the thumb of his domineering father, Fred Trump, Sr. (Martin Donovan, “Tenet”). It is in a dimly lit nightclub/restaurant where attorney Roy Cohn (Strong, “The Gentlemen”, “Molly’s Game”) spots an ambitious Trump sitting alone. Cohn, who had a significant role in the 1951 espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and their subsequent execution, has a no-holds barred, take-no prisoner mentality with little patience for anything or anyone he deems unpatriotic.
Cohn takes Trump under his wing and gets his family out of a legal jam involving accusations of racist landlord practices. It’s the start of a partnership and friendship that shapes Trump’s view of himself, business and the world around him for years to come. It also impacts his eventual marriage to his first wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”), presented as a tragic figure because of the way she is treated by her husband. Trump absorbs three rules from Cohn that become his guiding principles: always attack, never admit wrongdoing, and always claim victory, even if defeated.
While probably still a lightning rod for Trump supporters and non-supporters alike, “The Apprentice” stands out because of its performances by Stan and Strong, with a nice supporting role as well by Bakalova. It exposes the underbelly of New York when it was rundown, corrupt and gangsters had equal notoriety at celebrities. The evolution of the Trump character in the film is a fascinating yet sad thing to watch unfold, even if the camera work is choppy. It’s certainly not a flick for kids and it may leave you feeling kind of gross when it’s over.
“The Apprentice” receives ★★★ out of five.