As much as people bemoan it and deny it, all art is political. By its very existence, it is made at a specific time and place, built on what has come before, is made by a specific group of people, and reflects (however inadvertently) the status quo and more. Who is telling what stories when can’t help but comment on the current state of society—its values, fears, aspirations, and more. So, to any that object to “The Apprentice” for being political, then share that objection with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” and “We Live in Time” as well. But also, those that dismiss Ali Abbasi’s new film will be missing out on an incredible new work that doesn’t just comment on an unfortunately very important historical figure, but also reflects on the decades that gave birth to his meteoric rise. With terrific cinematography, haunting dialogue, and outstanding performances (especially by the three leads), “The Apprentice” paints a horrific portrait of the greed and egotism that blossomed in the ‘80s and has run rampant ever since. It’s a chilling look at vainglorious opportunists that mutated the system to their will in ways that reverberate over 40 years later. But what’s most surprising by “The Apprentice” is how much grace and sympathy it extends to its devils, and how sadly human they are throughout all their monstrous acts.
One night, in the late ‘70s, at a club for rich people and movers and shakers, Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) met Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), and history would be forever changed. Trump was dealing with legal issues surrounding his father’s business (turns out the government doesn’t like it when you’re very overtly racist against renting to Black people) while also trying to get his own building projects off the ground. Cohn was infamous for his cutthroat work with McCarthy during the Red Scare and getting the Rosenbergs executed and was a shark in the courtroom. Trump employs Cohn to help him fight the feds against these charges, and seeing something in the young man, Cohn mentors him on how to conduct business using politics, the media, bribery, and blackmail. As the years go on, Trump surpasses his former adviser and they grow distant, all while his wealth increases, he meets his first wife, Ivana (Maria Bakalova), and his profile ascends internationally.
I saw “The Apprentice” the day after watching “Saturday Night,” and it put both films in stark relief. They share a bunch in common: the alleged true story of the rise of celebrities in 1970s New York City who would go on to have a major impact on our culture and our world in unexpected ways. But “The Apprentice” succeeds on multiple places where “Saturday Night” falters. Abbasi’s film never insists on itself, it doesn’t constantly underline what is happening as being *very important* or have these bloviating speeches about why what you’re seeing is going to cause massive change on society. Also, the performances truly standout, whereas “Saturday Night” felt like caricatures or impressions of real life people we’ve all seen for years, the work by Stan, Strong, and Bakalova feel like genuine human beings. There are the familiar tics and mannerisms, but they seem to spring naturally from these actors, as if they are simply imbued with the presence of those figures.
Gary Sherman’s script does an amazing balancing act of highlighting all the ways that Cohn and Trump were scumbags, and yet there is still a genuine deference to their humanity. Even after pushing his mentor aside, Trump still misses Cohn and reaches out to him. That doesn’t preclude him from doing terrible things and being a horrible human being to his former tutor, because at the end of the day they are both egotistical monsters. Yet Sherman and Abbasi look at the beasts and find glimmers of a soul, signs that they aren’t just blustering blowhards hellbent on furthering their own agendas at any cost. They are that…but they aren’t *just* that.
“The Apprentice” is also beautifully captured in great period detail, first in grainy film stock like ‘70s movies and then in a shot-on-video type glean that befits the decade that saw the rise of the VCR. DP Kasper Tuxen wonderfully shoots all these scenes, going between a documentary feel of stolen moments and hauntingly sinister frames that make use of chintzy chiaroscuro. It’s not heavy handed, but instead feels like a slightly heightened version of reality which makes sense for the media circus and alternate universe in which these people live(d). Costume designer Laura Montgomery also deserves great praise for wonderfully telling the story of the characters through their outfits, as well as paying homage to the fashions of the times to show how Trump and gang horrifically reflect their eras so well.
Of course, Cohn isn’t The Devil, but “The Apprentice” makes a fairly solid case for him being Satan’s understudy. But then he is outdone by his own protégé as the insecure and emotionally stunted Trump takes all of Cohn’s teachings far too closely to heart. For those who may be wondering what lies at the heart of a political movement (hell, an entire political party now) that has remade itself in the image of one incredibly flawed man, “The Apprentice” is an excellent film that shows how dancing with the devil doesn’t change the devil, but it does change you. It shows how the materialistic ethos of a decade took root inside someone and what that looks like when taken to its natural, hideous conclusion. Yes, “The Apprentice” is a political film and a uniquely American horror story, but it is a necessary stare into the void while trying to find some remaining pieces of soul in that abyssal darkness.
4 / 5 Stars
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Catherine McNally, Charlie Carrick, Ben Sullivan, Mark Rendall
Directed by: Ali Abbasi
