Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, who made his festival name at Cannes with Border (2018) and Holy Spider (2022), returns to competition on the Croisette with a valiant frontal attack on the ex- and possibly future-president Donald Trump, in the aptly titled The Apprentice.
With the November elections galloping up fast in the U.S., you can’t get more topical than this, though sales company Rocket Science has yet to close a U.S. distribution deal going into its world premiere. Produced by Canada, Denmark and Ireland, this devastating take-down of the youthful Donald as he claws his way up the real estate ladder in Manhattan and Atlantic City is an entertaining film overall, though it offers no new revelations or startling conclusions. As far as likely audiences go, it will be preaching to the choir all the way.
Gabriel Sherman’s screenplay actually makes no mention of the long-running American reality TV show, on which D.T. was the coproducer and host for the series’ first 14 seasons. The film’s title rather refers to the diabolical mentorship of ultra-conservative attorney Roy Cohn and his lasting influence on Trump’s way of thinking and acting in the world. This very human exchange, akin to a handing down of dangerous, anti-social knowledge, is at the heart of The Apprentice and depicted with skin-crawling realism by Sebastian Stan as Trump and Jeremy Strong as Cohn, both delivering superb performances that are only slightly over-the-top (or are they?)
The story is prefaced by an excerpt from Richard Nixon’s resignation speech, by now a hoary historical recording in which he denies any wrong-doing and says he is leaving office out of respect for the law and for the sake of America. It isn’t hard to grasp the irony of how completely politics has changed since Nixon’s day, to the present in which Trump refused to leave office after the last election and ended up with four indictment counts and 91 criminal charges against him.
As the story begins, Donald is a good-looking young man in a business suit who drives around the New York boroughs collecting rent on his father’s low-rent properties. When he manages to become the youngest member of an exclusive club, he catches the eye of the powerful and well-connected dirty-tricks attorney Roy Cohn. Donald is flattered to be invited to his table surrounded by crass, drunken mobsters whose talk is laced with pithy obscenities and jailhouse humor. Hoping to become part of this devilish assembly, Donald curries Cohn’s favor and is blessed with the three cardinal rules to become a “killer” (which is synonymous with “winner”) as opposed to a “loser”. The first rule is to attack, attack, attack anyone who challenges you. The second is to admit nothing and deny everything. And the third is, no matter what happens, never admit defeat. They have a familiar ring.
The older man’s ruthless approach suits Donald to a T, especially when he defends Donald and his father Fred in court. They are being sued by the N.A.A.C.P. on behalf of Black tenants over discrimination in renting apartments. Cohn soon shows he is even more racist than the Trumps, and reminds Donald how he worked for the powerful senator Joe McCarthy to put Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the electric chair for spying for the Soviet Union. He is proud he blackmailed the judge to be sure Ethel received no clemency on account of her two small children.
Meanwhile, Donald is soaking up the lessons and learning the art of the deal: bluffing outrageously and stopping at nothing to get what he wants. His courtship of his first wife Ivana stretches over several scenes; in the funniest one, Cohn tries to get her to sign a miserly pre-nup contract that almost gets the wedding called off. Actress Maria Bakalova turns Ivana into the most likable character in the film, foregrounding her cleverness and ability to see through Donald, but it doesn’t keep the marriage from an ugly break-up.
Real success lands on Donald’s plate halfway through the film, when Cohn (working as a friend, for free) maneuvers New York City politicians into granting Donald a huge tax rebate on the construction of Trump Tower, using the worst forms of blackmail. Even Donald’s dismissive father is impressed when he attends the grand opening with Manhattan’s elite (Donald talks to but fails to recognize Andy Warhol.) His head swollen with pride and ego, he stops taking Cohn’s sage if crooked advice and overextends himself ruinously, buying into Atlantic City casinos that quickly go under.
We know the rest of his story, but even before this point viewers who are news junkies may feel fatigue at watching a dramatization of such well-explored history. Sebastian Stan, best known till now as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier in the Captain America film franchise, takes a big step forward here in role of the tycoon who would be king. He leans into Donald’s early awkwardness and restless search for a father figure less hostile than Fred, using small gestures and expressions that very gradually turn into the tics and prejudices of the Trump of today.
Jeremy Strong’s vicious portrayal of Roy Cohn will long be remembered alongside the finest of Hollywood’s eccentric baddies. The disconcerting way he fixes Donald like an expressionless snake about to strike adds fear to his vulgar pronouncements. Perhaps his most chilling aspect is his warped patriotism, professing to love America while he is ruining an opponent or snarling at the liberals.
There is also a secret part of his life: his homosexuality. When he throws a party at his Manhattan townhouse (“If you’re indicted, you’re invited”), Donald opens the wrong door and finds him having an orgy with both sexes. Eventually the tough-as-nails lawyer contracts AIDS from his male partner, but by then Donald has the upper hand and it is Cohn who comes looking for favors. At their last meeting, a birthday dinner, he is deathly sick and in a wheelchair; Donald sits a mile away to avoid being “contaminated”. This scene puts the nail in the coffin of D.T.’s character while, oddly, it grants his terrible teacher a moment of dignity amid bitter self-reflection.
Director: Ali Abbasi
Screenplay: Gabriel Sherman
Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Charlie Carrick, Mark Rendall, Joe Pingue
Producers: Daniel Bekerman, Julianne Forde, Andrew Frank, Jacob Jarek, Louis Tisné, Ruth Treacy
Cinematography: Kasper Tuxen
Editing: Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm
Production design: Aleksandra Marinkovich
Costume design: Laura Montgomery
Music: Martin Dirkov
Sound mix: Thomas Hayek
Production companies: Scythia Films (Canada), Profile Pictures (Denmark), Tailored Films (Ireland)
World Sales: Rocket Science
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Competition)
In English
120 minutes
