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Anyone who argues that we do not need a Donald Trump biopic at this point in time would have a fair point. The world as we currently know it is very much still living in the presence of a man many fear and hate and yes as well as love, admire and have made their obsession. This critic feels no reason to hide their own distaste for the former president and current convicted felon. However the curiosity of any biopic that focuses on less “birth to death” and more a select moment or moments in time is hard to resist. Full scale biopics are far too many and more play the best of the hits which is why THE APPRENTICE directed by Ali Abbasi sparked interest in more of its approach to taking a time in history where Donald Trump the man may not have been the full tyrant he longs to be today but instead the rise of a golden spoon privilieged businessman who gets his own Darth Vader-eque prequel. His Palpatine? (sorry non nerds) The infamous and deadly New York lawyer Roy Cohn. While not just a playful mockery of Trump’s eventual degrading reality television show THE APPRENTICE really is a training montage of a film. An excuse to watch the master wield his puppet strings only for the student to find a way to cut free from the reigns and dominate the scene. If this was an episode of the fictional “Succession” it would be dark humorous riot, as a prologue to the book “The Art of the Deal,” a bullshit capitalistic rhetoric, its down right terrifying. The feel bad movie of the year if you will. And worst of all while the film succeeds in many aspects it feels like a pointless journey to remind others of the dangers of Trump or to convince naysayers. Instead THE APPRENTICE is more evidence that far too many allowed this man to succeed and to this very second far too many want him to take over the world.

Donald Trump needs a good lawyer. Rocking some already thinning hall and facial and gut prosthetics actor Sebastian Stan scarily blends right into Trump’s features and mannerisms. Stan an actor best known for his Marvel work but also doing double duty this year with the tremendous “A Different Man” doesn’t bring sympathy to Trump but even in those early moments its clear this is a young man confused and desperate. Trump is in trouble and so is the family business. It is 1973 and they are being sued by the NAACP for discrimination against people of color for not renting houses to them in their rundown apartment buildings. The Black people who are lucky (or unlucky) enough to be approved our four times the rent upfront. The disdain the filmmakers have for Trump and his family is clear right from the start. This includes Fred Trump (Martin Donovan) being disgusted by the lawsuit “how can I be racist when I have a Black driver” he proclaims at family dinner. A lawsuit will already hit strong against their dwindling real estate companies that Donald now leads the charge. In doing so he finds himself sitting across the room from Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) with a somewhat humorous moment of Cohn locking eyes on Donald so sharply that you do not know whether he already has disgust for the young man or if he wants to sleep with him. Strong as Cohn is if Kendall Roy didn’t jump into the Hudson river at the Succession finale (he did you can’t convince me otherwise) and became the country’s most repulsive lawyer fake tan and all. And while Strong as Cohn (accurtaley) feels too over the top even for Donald, Cohn takes a liking to him and this impossible to win case. Abassi with writer Gabriel Sherman are trying to say that evil people find one another its basically how they survive.

Friendship or not Cohn sees Donald as a work in progress and with winning that impossible lawsuit (with some threatening of outing a member of the prosecutor team) Donald is in total awe. THE APPRENTICE wants us to believe early on that Trump has never been a good person but he still didn’t have it in him to rule the world. That ability has to be learned. Cohn with his teachings has three big rules to show Donald, his life practice if you will. Rule one, always attack never back down, rule two deny everything make them prove it and by doing so undo any case they have against you and finally even in losing never admit defeat. Without admitting defeat it can never actually happen. These moments bring a sick feeling to the audience as while some can chuckle it off (the movie is quite funny at times) there is still that twinkle in Donald’s eyes as he learns the rules and we can see the future failed businessman get off on this mentality. Thankfully the film doesn’t hit beat for beat every moment Donald and Roy step on the backs of many to succeed but instead the film quickly bounces from early 1970’s to the 80’s to show Trumps now more successful side trying to build Trump Tower. Shot like an episode of the agonizing capitalist show “Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous,” with Kasper Tuxen’s cinematography the film succeeds and showing the glitz and glamour of Trump’s life and everyone he associated with all while delivering some harrowing scenes. One in particular involving a townhall meeting involving the announced tax break Trump and his investors will receive from the state of New York as it finds the money through closing down healthcare facilities and money for those in need. The filmmakers after an early montage of showing the disarray the city of New York was left in (mainly due to big business man taking over) the film never returns to fully show these issues. Instead it leaves it up to its characters and the way Donald reacts to the ongoing Aids crisis or “gay cancer” as he so elegantly puts it.

The film still has trouble avoiding many of the beat for beats that bring down the biopic genre. The introduction of Roger Stone (Mark Rendall) feels like an eye roll of an assembly of the worst alt right Avengers, and Freddy Trump (Charlie Carrick) is there solely to represent how Donald sees those battling addiction. It’s heartbreaking to see anyone struggling be tossed aside especially by their brother, but the film has difficulty balancing any for of trying to show empathy out of Donald. The human quality in us will feel sorry for anyone who has lost someone to addiction but do our own preconceived notions get in the way of sympathy or has the film done a better job at showing there is likely little care going forward from this man. Fairing better from these side roles is Maria Bakalova as Donald’s first wife Ivana. Bakalova after her Oscar nomination for the “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” has not been given the best roles to show off her talent that led to a worthy and one of the most creative Oscar nominations in decades. As Ivana there is a better balance of finding empathy while also frustration for how easy it is to be caught up in these materialistic lies, especially when you always wanted them. Unfortunately, just like the later moments of the film Abassi does not know exactly what to do with her as a character and instead sends her off in a miserable scene that will make you want to rip your ears out once Fox and Friends hears about it.

THE APPRENTICE has those struggles of not knowing what to do throughout the film but more so later on. It seems to have written itself in its corner where it does not want to take us up to present day (nor do any of us want to see that) but at the same time it feels too limited. There is that obvious limitation of not just showing a ton, but more so being limited to our already knowledge and experience with a wannabe dictator. Stan is excellent as Donald but even his performance suffers when he is not with Strong’s Cohn. The film wants to be a student becomes the teacher type thing, but a film that relies too heavily on the backs of both its leads suffers when they are separated. Also the film makes you go back to those people who never saw a point to this film and their justified opinion. It all does feel hollow at times and weightless. Does a film that works best when its performers are up front really work as a film all together? There are still moments that feel consequential when it briefly covers the notion that the people of power had no problem allowing this man to become who he is because it pays well for them. But even that “eat the rich” mentality feels overdone in films feeling more important to address in real life scenario rather that a movie that only skims the surface. In fact Stan and Strong are so great here that it feels like they are often detached from the movie they are in. Instead they are playing right to the audience as a “yea fuck them too” attitude and come join us. That is easy to get behind but for a film that wanted to really knock the orange faced loser out of the game, they merely served him a softball.

B-

THE APPRENTICE IS IN THEATERS NOW