'The Apprentice' - Review Thread

• Rotten Tomatoes: 76% (55 Reviews) - 6.8/10 Average Rating

Critics Consensus: Instead of cross-examining its subject, The Apprentice gives Sebastian Stan the chance to shine in a simplistic yet entertaining foray into the world of a young Trump.

• Metacritic: 62/100 (23 Reviews)

Reviews:

Hollywood Reporter (70)

Some will argue that Stan’s performance in the central role is a touch too likeable, but the actor does an excellent job, going beyond impersonation to capture the essence of the man. In a character study of a public figure both widely parodied and unwittingly self-parodying, Stan gives us a more nuanced take on what makes him tick. What Abbasi's film reveals most of all is the extent to which the toxicity that’s now an inescapable part of our contemporary reality was shaped by the unholy alliance between two men half a century ago.

DEADLINE

This exceptionally well-researched first screenplay by Gabriel Sherman, who had profiled Trump for various publications and thought the Trump-Cohn story would make a good movie, has turned out a tale that is essentially a Faustian deal between the two. Although they have both been described as monsters in different circles, they are really given an empathetic treatment here, at least in part, and at least in an attempt to show us what led to historical change in America, and what may well continue in a story whose end has yet to be written.

IndieWire (50)

Cohn’s shock at his own betrayal is the most humanizing thing about him — even one of history’s greatest monsters reaches a point where they’re surprised by someone’s abject lack of humanity. And if Trump would do such a thing to his own personal hero, just imagine what he might do to his lackeys. Or to his constituents. Or to his country. Cohn doesn’t live to see it with his own eyes, but we already have. Clipped from the start and increasingly uncertain of its purpose as it fumbles toward the Trump we know, this origin story certainly isn’t as painful to watch as the future that it portends has been to endure, but it’s every bit as banal and unnecessary. 

IGN (7/10)

Despite its underachievement as a political movie, The Apprentice fittingly encapsulates the Trump era of American politics on either side of the aisle, thanks to the efforts of its cast. On one hand, there's something familiarly distasteful about Trump and his ilk, people who are willing to shed their humanity for the mere appearance of success, regardless of how much (or how little) truly exists beneath the surface. On the other, The Apprentice itself embodies the futility of trying to critique this sort of moral and political rot through aesthetics alone, with no deeper or more useful insight.

Variety (60)

For its first half, “The Apprentice” is kind of a knockout: the inside look at how Trump evolved that so many of us have imagined for so long, and seeing it play out is both convincing and riveting. Yet I have an issue with the movie, and it all pivots around the mystery of Trump. I don’t think “The Apprentice” ever penetrates it.

Entertainment Weekly (B )

Only in America could men like Donald Trump and Roy Cohn exist — their greed, their lust for power, their belief in themselves and their self-importance a product of the myths of independence and self-reliance they were fed since birth. And in that way, The Apprentice encapsulates the American Dream, revealing all the ways in which it can be subverted into a nightmare

The Guardian (2/5)

Director Ali Abbasi has given us fascinating monsters in the past with Holy Spider and Border but the monstrosity here is almost sentimental, a cartoon Xeroxed from many other satirical Trump takes and knowing prophetic echoes of his political future. It’s basically a far less original picture.
In sketching out his pre-White-House career, The Apprentice worryingly moves us back to the old Donald, the joke Donald who had a cameo in Home Alone 2 and of course his own hit TV show, the joke that is now beyond unfunny. It feels obtuse and irrelevant.

The Playlist (B )

There is, of course, a fear that a film like “The Apprentice” might pose a dangerous chance to endear this buffoon to audiences. Alas, the Trump at the center of Abbasi’s sleek satire is the same Trump already etched in the cultural consciousness — an incompetent, disloyal, criminal fool. That, one hopes, will only cater only to those already indoctrinated

Telegraph UK (3/5)

Can The Apprentice lob a spanner into Trump’s reelection campaign? Well, obviously not, since Trump himself is the spanner: as ever with him, the usual rules don’t apply. It’s worth watching for the light it throws on a relatively unknown chapter of his story, but doesn’t tell us anything that its subject hasn’t repeatedly told us himself.

BBC (3/5)

The Apprentice is destined to be berated by many as too flattering or too unflattering, but it's a cleverly composed snapshot of its subject at a specific time. Ultimately, it doesn't say anything we haven't heard, and it doesn't plumb the psychological depths.

A.V. Club (B )

The performances are stellar, the pacing both restrained and engaging, the realization of Cohn and Trump’s world is top notch, and the dynamic between the two is as captivating as any. For those able to take the film on its own terms, to be in equal parts fascinated and repelled by the behaviors of those captured therein, The Apprentice stands as a masterclass in observing this compelling, consequential mentor/protégé relationship—one that continues to shape global headlines.

TIME (70)

Ali Abbasi's The Apprentice arrives at just the right time. If it isn’t a great movie, it’s at least a fascinating and thoughtful one, an even-handed film that doesn’t need to resort to extremes to paint an accurate picture of what America and the world are up against right now, in terms of one particular past and possibly future president.

Rolling Stone (70)

Abbasi isn’t a subtle filmmaker, and his need to provoke sometimes undermines his points; Here, the blunt force works in his film’s favor.

Vulture (50)

At some point we might wonder why we’re spending two hours watching a movie that, as it goes on, starts to feel more and more like a fancy, vaguely arty Saturday Night Live sketch that refuses to end.

TheWrap (75)

The Apprentice is amusing at times and disturbing at others, but it’s hard not to think that Ali Abbasi could have done something weirder, wilder and more satisfying if he’d found a way to bring in more magic and less MAGA.

Synopsis:

A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry scion of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat attorney who would help create the Donald Trump we know today. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé—someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Director: Ali Abbasi

Screenwriter: Gabriel Sherman

Cast:

• Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump
• Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn
• Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump
• Martin Donovan as Fred Trump
• Ben Sullivan as Russell Eldridge
• Charlie Carrick as Fred Trump Jr.
• Mark Rendall as Daniel Sullivan
• Joe Pingue as Anthony Salerno

Release Date: October 11

Runtime: 120 minutes