I really didn't want to sit through a movie about Donald Trump. I wasn't eager to watch it even if it was going to not be flattering of him. But The Apprentice isn't an opportunistic film by any means. It focuses on something specific that is important. As it's title suggests it follows a young Trump and his development including his relationship with the infamous Roy Cohn, one of the most influential and truly horrible human beings of the latter half of the 20th century. The Apprentice shows us that Trump is not an aberration or radical figure. He is instead a natural consequence of the American Conservative movement and their values in the last 50 years. There is a trough line from McCarthy to Nixon to Reagan to Trump and all the in-betweens.
Sherman and Abbasi neither skewer the former president nor glorify him. Their approach is to lay out step by step the fostering of cruelty in those susceptible. This is facilitated in the powerful performances of Stan and Strong who both neither imitate nor caricature their subjects. Instead they play their roles as the real people they are, outside of any myth making. This doesn't humanize them but simply brings forward a painful truth about how our culture, especially in the profit obsessed 80s, produces this sort of vileness. It shows how this fosters human beings who are capable of horrible things and creates the permission structure wrapped up in the flag and all might dollar.
The Apprentice is shot with a retro style to capture the 70/80s timeframe it is set in. It gets under the cubic zirconian quality to lifestyles of the rich and famous era. It chronicles just how excuses for cruelty can be so persuasive and attractive. It is often chilling. I was impressed that it wasn't just a simple indictment or some of the worst Americans to exist in my lifetime but also didn't give anyone a pass. Its balance and restraint without betraying truth is remarkable.
So while it might not be enjoyable to watch this villain origin story, it is an important for understanding the reframing of so much of how we look at history in this recent period. It is also a showcase for two actors doing wonderful work.
The Apprentice
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan
Director: Ali Abbasi
Writer: Gabriel Sherman
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