Sunday, October 20, 2024

Review of THE APPRENTICE: Trump's Transactional Talents

October 19, 2024



In 1973, a young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) met big-time attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) in a swanky restaurant in New York City. Donald was an ambitious son of real-estate developer Fred Trump (Martin Donovan), who was currently involved in a tough court case against the federal government. Cohn was known for getting his clients off the hook by whatever means, ethics be damned, and Donald wanted to hire him for his dad. 

Cohn took a liking on Donald and took him under his wing. He taught the ambitious young man about his recipe for success, from fashion advice to media relations. He shared his three rules for winning in life:  fight back and attack, deny all accusations, and to never ever admit defeat.  Despite discovering Cohn's dark secrets, Donald used Cohn's underhanded legal talents to build his dream Trump Tower against impossible odds. 

Like him or not, Donald Trump is admittedly one of the most famous, most powerful men in the world -- as billionaire real-estate mogul, as reality television show personality, and eventually, the 45th President of the United States of America from 2017 to 2021.  He is still very much in the news now as he is running again as the Republican candidate in the upcoming US Presidential elections set for November 5, 2024. 

This film tells us how he honed his natural killer instinct in business to ruthless perfection. Director Ali Abbasi and screenwriter Gabriel Sherman did not exactly paint a flattering portrait of the man. Aside from Cohn, we learn about his relationship with his parents Fred and Mary Anne (Catherine MacNally) and especially his elder brother airline pilot Freddie (Charlie Carrick). We also see how he met, wooed and abused his first wife Ivana (Maria Balakova).

Sebastian Stan is best known as Marvel super-soldier Bucky Barnes a.k.a. Winter Soldier. Trim, fit and athletic, Stan was the last actor anyone would think of who could play Donald Trump, but here he is. Stan went the full method way to transform his body and soul into Trump, with the signature poufy hairstyle, the distinct speech patterns, and his aggressive public personality. Chances of an Oscar nomination for Best Actor is not far behind. 8/10.


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