鈥淚t is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump,鈥 a New York Times editorial thundered last weekend, damning the former president as 鈥渕orally unfit鈥 to lead.
Even harder, perhaps, is imagining 鈥 or remembering 鈥 a time when Trump wasn鈥檛 Trump as the world now knows him: a self-serving egotist who lives in his own reality and denies any weakness or defeat.
Which makes 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 the eye-opening new movie by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abassi (鈥淗oly Spider鈥) all the more of a must-see 鈥 especially as the Nov. 5 presidential election approaches, and with it the possible return of Trump to the White House. It shows how the man became the monster.
The fact-based drama, a Canadian co-production shot in Toronto, Hamilton and Uxbridge, looks at Trump in the 1970s and early 鈥80s. Dismissed then by New York power players as 鈥淒onald who?,鈥 he was struggling to prove he was more than the naive middle son of New York real estate mogul Fred Trump Sr. (Martin Donovan).
The most remarkable thing about 鈥淭he Apprentice,鈥 even more than 鈥淐aptain America鈥 sidekick Sebastian Stan鈥檚 splendid portrayal of the title striver, is the sympathy the film arouses for Trump 鈥 but only briefly, until he becomes like the title hedonist in 鈥淭he Picture of Dorian Gray,鈥 succumbing to moral and physical rot.
Cinematographer Kasper Tuxen supplies appropriately dark and claustrophobic images of New York in decline, as it was in the 1970s.
The year is 1973. Tired of being under the thumb of his dismissive and unloving father, and toiling as the harassed rent collector in the family鈥檚 Brooklyn apartment complex, a 27-year-old Donald J. Trump falls under the sway of ruthless New York lawyer Roy Cohn, played by 鈥淪uccession鈥 star Jeremy Strong.
Cohn, a sarcastic bully who has that fake orange suntan look that Trump will later become notorious for, apparently sees the young wannabe mogul as the son he never had.
Proud of his reputation as 鈥淟ucifer incarnate,鈥 Cohn teaches the star-struck Trump his 鈥渁ttack, attack, attack!鈥 philosophy of succeeding in business and life.
That鈥檚 the first of Cohn鈥檚 three main rules for winning. The other two are 鈥渁dmit nothing, deny everything鈥 and 鈥渃laim victory and never admit defeat,鈥 slogans that sound awfully familiar because Trump clearly took them to heart.
Cohn is introduced to Trump as the lawyer 鈥渨ho got the Rosenbergs the chair,鈥 a reference to the notorious 1953 spy trial and subsequent state execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.听
This is music to Trump鈥檚 ears, even more than the disco songs on the soundtrack. The U.S. Justice Department is accusing his family of racial discrimination against people of colour. Cohn spearheads the legal pushback and he and Trump become allies in what Strong, who also delivers a powerful performance, has described in interviews as 鈥渁 love story.鈥
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Their close relationship continued until听Cohn鈥檚 death听in听1986,听a friendship that survived despite betrayals from Trump.
鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 answers听a lot of听questions about how Trump became the showboating power seeker he鈥檚 known as today. He was the eager pupil of a man who believed, to quote听yet听another of Cohn鈥檚 sayings: 鈥淵ou have to be willing to do anything to anyone to win.鈥
Actor Stan nails Trump鈥檚 clownish physicality: his verbal cadence and tics, his simian hand gestures and his rictus smirk, which seemed a lot less听obvious听in the 鈥70s and 鈥80s than they are now.
Abassi and screenwriter Gabriel Sherman (TV鈥檚 鈥淎laska Daily鈥), seem at first听impressed by Trump鈥檚 determination and they鈥檙e sympathetic toward him in the film鈥檚 first half. Mention is made of a New York Times profile that admiringly compares听Trump鈥檚 tousled hair, which he鈥檚 constantly adjusting, to that of Robert Redford鈥檚. (Late in the film Trump gets scalp-reduction surgery, and also liposuction, in a vain attempt to stave off aging.)
Trump has to put up with more than Cohn鈥檚 belittling comments about his clothing, his reluctance to drink and his awkward manner. He also gets a lot of verbal abuse from his father, who scorns his son鈥檚 dream to build luxury hotels and residences in downtown听Manhattan,听at a time when New York City is on the verge of bankruptcy.听
The human tendency is to feel for a guy like that, and to cheer him听on听as he meets and enthusiastically woos his future wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova of 鈥淏orat 2鈥). She鈥檚 a successful model who demands a $100,000 payment before she鈥檒l marry a man she rightly suspects is an untrustworthy hound.
It doesn鈥檛 take long for Trump鈥檚 true colours to听emerge听as his Faustian deal with Cohn deepens. He begins referring to people as either 鈥渒illers鈥 or 鈥渓osers鈥 鈥 guess how he sees himself 鈥 and听he bullies New York civic leaders to cut him sweetheart tax deals to bankroll his building binge.听
As his confidence and swagger build, Trump鈥檚 remaining scruples vanish. He pulls away from Cohn, a closeted gay man who has contracted AIDS (although he denies it), which听will ultimately kill him.
Trump also tires of Ivana, cruelly casting her aside after insulting her and brutally raping her, in the film鈥檚 most shocking scene.
How much 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 is based on truth is hard to say; Ivana, who died in 2022, later recanted her rape accusation and the film opens with a disclaimer saying not everything that follows is 100 per cent verifiable.
Trump of course denies everything. He threatened legal action against the film, which had trouble finding distribution following its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
But none of it is hard to believe 鈥 especially a scene near the end where Trump takes credit for the three rules of success quoted above and which he attributes not to Cohn but听rather听to his own 鈥渘atural ability.鈥
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