Sebastian Stan gives a transformative performance as a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice, a film with an electric 80's vibe, with a bold take on ambition and power in a divisive era.
So, a few things have happened. Donald Trump is the 47th President of the U.S. (winning by a majority). And he is the subject of a biopic released in 2024, aptly titled The Apprentice. It’s not about the popular T.V. show Trump made in the 2000s. It’s about Trump’s early years as a New York real estate owner. It’s an international co-production between Canada, the U.S., Denmark and Ireland, directed by the talented and upcoming Ali Abassi. And it’s been nominated for 2 Oscars.
The movie’s timing was always questionable but I doubt anyone could’ve predicted this turn of events. In a politically divided country, this movie is sure to be seen as divisive. It’s based on events that took place around 40 years ago and for people outside of the country, unknown. Here, Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) is a young, wet-behind-the-ears but ambitious salesman; a young man about town who likes to hang where the rich and successful do.
The movie moves like a cocaine trip (a drug widely available in the 1980s New York the movie is set in), exploding with energy in the first 30 minutes, then slowly subsiding to the absolute depths of human consciousness. In a club Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) frequents, he eyes Donald from a distance, like a predator who knows he’ll sleep with a full stomach tonight. Cohn hunts expertly, seducing his prey to come to him. Donald is in the midst of a lawsuit where Cohn’s dark art of winning cases is required. Donald makes his pitch, hat in hand until Cohn relents in taking his case. Cohn takes a shine to the young Donnie, taking him under his wing, and teaching him his laws of success.
His tenacity and drive make Donald relatable, even likeable. Everyone knows what it takes to be a winner. It takes a helluva lot. Donald’s actions to succeed in winning his father’s validation and to build the Trump Tower aren’t saintly, but in the real world, people seldom are. Cleverly, in the first half, Donald is at the receiving end of most interactions except for the ones where he tries to woo Ivana (played superbly by Maria Bakalova). Their love story is sweet and romantic until Cohn delivers a prenuptial agreement to Ivana.
Sebastian Stan doesn’t play Trump like the many impressions widely available out there. In fact, he barely sounds like the man. But, the genius of the performance is that he transforms into the Trump we know as the movie progresses, as he moves closer to his current age. Being up there on the screen every minute, he presents us with a man who looks familiar but is different enough to be taken at face value, creating a new image of Trump that’s rarely seen. As his sparring partner, Strong is truly exceptional. The performance is exaggerated and flamboyant, as one is when they are at the top of the world. When they are in their moment, in their element, and the world is chasing them; which is where Roy Cohn was at the time. Watching Cohn’s interviews, one can see that Strong has got the mannerisms right.Â
Ali Abbasi shot the film in the style of movies from the 1980s which gives the movie a fresh and interesting look. The proceedings follow in dark rooms, reminiscent of The Godfather and Wall Street. The Apprentice, in a way, is an alternate version of Wall Street. This isn’t Wall Street 2, mind you. But it is about greed and power as much as the 1987 film is. If Bud Fox truly applied what he learnt from Gordon Gekko to build his own empire, the movie would have looked like The Apprentice.
The one obnoxious moment in the movie is when a certain malicious act is displayed. Is that what real Trump did? We can never know but it’s ridiculous for the movie Trump to do. Midway through the film, Donald transitions into a different person with no clear explanation. Why did he become so thankless? What brought this change? Because this change is poorly established, the movie drags in the second half. It took two movies for Michael Corleone to go from hero to villain and wisely so. In The Apprentice, the creators have banked to build on the negative impression of Trump in the media but it doesn’t work as not all of us see him as the Devil.
The Apprentice presents the man who has ruled the news cycle for nearly a decade in a fascinating new light, playing out his origins. That is an achievement in itself. The Apprentice is also as much a story about America and the American Dream as it is about Trump. But better movies have been made about those themes.
Donald Trump – ‘Well, I think that America is a country that, uh, has tremendous, tremendous potential. I think that much like the mind, I think America is using very, very little of its potential, I really feel that, but I also feel that it’s a country that gets no respect from other countries. None. Zero. And, uh, and that’s a shame, isn’t it?’
Interviewer – ‘Tell me this, what if you lost your fortune today? What would you do?’
Donald Trump – [smugly] ‘Well, then, maybe I’ll run for president, I don’t know.’