IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched in the cinema (156th visit in 2024)
It comes as no surprise that a movie about Donald Trump would be made at some point. After all, he is one of the most enigmatic and controversial figures in recent history. Since his election as US president at the latest, he has also become an international phenomenon. And yet more than a few people may have been surprised by "The Apprentice". Ali Abbasi of all people, who previously became a favorite of arthouse cinema with the mystery thriller "Border" and the depressing portrait of Iran "Holy Spider", is supposed to take on the white-trash king? And is he also played by Sebastian Stan, whose stunning looks can hardly be reconciled with Trump's? That sounded pretty wrong.
The next surprise is the way the movie is made. It was to be expected that it would not shrink into a pure hero worship like the recent Reagan movie about the Republican idol of the same name. However, "The Apprentice" is also not the biting farce that one might have expected given the protagonist. Instead, the biographical drama is kept very sober for the most part. You can tell that screenwriter Gabriel Sherman has a background in journalism. He also has experience with biographies; his non-fiction book "The Loudest Voice in the Room" about former Fox News boss Roger Ailes made him famous. However, this does not mean that every scene is necessarily based on reality. For example, a scene involving Trump's wife Ivana (Maria Bakalova), which is based on the divorce documents, is controversial. However, Ivana herself later withdrew the accusations. Other ugly moments in the film are also more or less based on hearsay.
Ivana is only a minor character. Instead, Abbasi portrays his protagonist as someone who has been significantly influenced by two men. There is his father Fred (Martin Donovan), whom he looked up to early on and whose recognition he repeatedly fights for in vain. And there is Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), who, according to the film, was instrumental in shaping the later Trump. The aggressive manner in which the latter stands out today, as well as the almost pathological lies, all seem to be attributable to the lawyer. The title is therefore doubly fitting. "The Apprentice" not only refers to the television reality show of the same name, on which Donald appeared as a presenter and made his famous "You're fired" his trademark. The drama shows how an inexperienced and insecure, downright shy man becomes an apprentice to a monster and learns everything he needs to know to make his way in the world.
This is entertaining for long stretches, although the movie is not designed as a farce. It is frightening in places, almost disturbing. And yet there is also something tragic about it, when the protagonist initially only longs to be recognized by others and to have value. The quality of the acting is consistent. Sebastian Stan shows that he is much more versatile than we had expected of him. Jeremy Strong may not undergo a comparable transformation over the course of the two hours, but he is no less impressive in his callous manner. "The Apprentice" is a journey into the past worth seeing, especially because of the two of them, and makes you wonder what would have happened if Trump hadn't met Cohn.
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