Movie Review: ‘The Apprentice’

The new movie from director Ali Abbasi features excellent performances from Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, though it does have some issues with how its treats Trump.

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

Opening in theaters on October 11th, ‘The Apprentice’ feels both timely and of its time as it turns the clock back to the late 1970s and 1980s, where Donald Trump was still a wannabe real estate developer working for his father’s companies who dreams of running his own business empire, but initially lacking the connections –– despite his family’s clear privilege –– to do so.

Ali Abbasi’s latest charts his rise thanks to the Palpatine-alike influence of obnoxious, powerful lawyer Roy Cohn, and aims to dig under Trump’s skin to discover what lead to the problem we have today.

Does ‘The Apprentice’ work?

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

With the upcoming election on everyone’s minds, it’s timely that a film targeted at discovering where Donald Trump got a lot of his business and general beliefs from is arriving in theaters. ‘The Apprentice’ doesn’t look to completely profile the man, but then, that’s not the point; this is a tightly-focused story of his rise to business dominance in New York in the 1980s thanks to the support and advice of Roy Cohn in particular, who sees something in Trump and encourages his less ethical side with a mantra that includes the phrase “admit nothing, deny everything” (sound familiar?).

Truth and fairness are entirely malleable to these men, who use wealth and power to manipulate the world around them, and though the movie sometimes seems to let Trump off the hook for his behavior, it’s ultimately a compelling chronicle of his muddy morals.

Script and Direction

(L to R) Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn and Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

Writer Gabriel Sherman has spent most of his career chronicling dodgy wealthy and powerful people, and he brings plenty of research to the page here. Keeping the focus almost entirely on Trump, he has crafted a solid and believable evolution (though perhaps devolution might be a better word) for the man on the page.

While ‘The Apprentice’ script does sometimes fall into the old trap of this-happens-then-this-happens storytelling, there’s enough meat on the bone to keep it from feeling stale.

Director Ali Abbasi has more normally worked from scripts he wrote, including the superb ‘Holy Spider’ and the excellent ‘Border’ and has brought both horror and fantasy to screens. He’s a good choice for a real-life horror story and his Iranian-Danish background means he has an outsider’s eye on the whole, ridiculous saga.

Bringing late 1970s and 1980s New York to the screen is no easy feat, especially for a movie that had to find its thrifty $16 million budget from a patchwork of companies and investors. But Abbasi infuses his film with punkish energy and keeps the story in motion while getting a lot out of his two leading men.

Performances

Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong dominate the screen here, while finding support in the likes of Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan.

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

Stan is having a stellar year, providing some of the best performances of his career between ‘A Different Man’ and now this. His Donald Trump is less an impression of the man, more a channeling of his corrupted essence, though as he moves through the story, he becomes closer to the Trump as most people will know him. While his work on ‘A Different Man’ seems more likely to draw awards attention, it’s not impossible that this transformation will also see potential trophies.

Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn

Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

The ever-intense Strong (who spent a few years as the ambitious, neurotic Kendall Roy on ‘Succession’) here dives into playing the powerful lawyer who seemingly set Trump on his path to how he is today. This is a bravura acting job by Strong, who fully imbues Cohn with angry power, but also gets to chart his slow decline as Trump rises and Cohn is impacted by the AIDS epidemic in those around him and finally, himself (though he insists to his dying day that he has liver cancer). Cohn’s a fascinating, intimidating character, a puppet master whose creation gets away from him.

Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump

Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

Bakalova, best known for her breakout role in the ‘Borat’ sequel, has less to do than her co-stars, but she brings spirit and, later spite to the role of Trump’s first wife. She’s always watchable and works well with Stan.

Martin Donovan as Fred Trump

(L to R) Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump and Martin Donovan as Fred Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

Trump’s overbearing father had a huge impact on his life, and Donovan is excellent in the role, working in prosthetics to bring him to life.

Supporting cast

There is good work in relatively small (but impactful) roles from the likes of Charlie Carrick (as Trump’s brother Freddy, who goes from high-flying airline pilot to addicted burnout) and Mark Rendall as Roger Stone, who will infamously go on to be a key advisor to Trump.

Final Thoughts

Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'. Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment.

‘The Apprentice’ faces a struggle for attention in theaters because of its divisive subject matter. There will be surely those who will be disappointed it doesn’t completely demonize the man (though a couple of scenes, based on more spurious accusations certainly push in that direction, including how he treats Ivanna), while Trump supporters will skip it and label it as leftie propaganda and “fake news.”

But take on its own merits, it’s a worthwhile peek at a very troubling person.

‘The Apprentice’ receives 7.5 out of 10 stars.

The Apprentice

"An American horror story."

R2 hr 3 minOct 11th, 2024

Showtimes & Tickets

A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who... Read the Plot

What’s the plot of ‘The Apprentice’?

A young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan), eager to make his name as a hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today.

Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé — someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.