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The Apprentice uses the title of Donald Trump’s famous TV reality show to place him in that position, from when he met the rather demanding lawyer, Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong – The Trial Of The Chicago 7).
First off the bat, though, if there’s one thing that irritates me about films like this, it’s that it doesn’t state at what point in Trump’s life we first see him, unless someone makes a reference to the year, but checking it out afterwards, I see it was 1973 in former and future President’s life when we see him early on, collecting rent in person from a number of tenants in his properties, most of whom are unwilling to cough up the green, simply because the economy is tanking and they have too much month at the end of their money.
Plus, one even tries to throw hot water over him, they’re that incensed!
However, while Trump (Sebastian Stan, who is brilliant in this role, just like when he starred in the recent A Different Man, which was released just two weeks before this film, yet got none of the attention, sadly), wants to build larger apartments, he’s struggling to get the funding because the Department of Justice is on his back for ‘trumped-up’ charges about this and that.
Roy Cohn teaches him to be bolshy in business with a number of rules about how to win at all costs, such as never admitting defeat and always claiming victory instead, but the most memorable being simply, “Attack! Attack! Attack!”
As such, Cohn walks into Trump’s life at exactly the right moment, since he’s in need of a lawyer, not least because he can’t get Trump Tower started unless the Mayor caves in on tax breaks.
The Apprentice is hugely engaging from start to finish, with great scenes, such as when he bumps into Andy Warhol (Bruce Beaton – Assassins Creed Syndicate), but has no idea who he is – which makes for a hilarious scene, the wooing of Ivana (Maria Bakalova – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3) – eventually marrying her, but on Roy’s advice, he wants her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement; and halfway through, everything turns in Trump’s favour, and it’s a noticeable shift, with him belittling Cohn, after he was befriended by that man.
Of course, given that this take on Trump comes from a Democrat-led perspective, it does make me question just how much of it is completely real – such as the time when he’s interviewed, and is asked what would he do if he lost all his money, to which he jokes that he’d run for President. Then again, it is still bloody entertaining, with solid leads from both Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, both at the top of their game, and director Ali Abbasi is also responsible for 2019’s intriguing Border.
However, what definitely isn’t real is when some of the music choices pop up. When Ronald Reagan is elected for the first time, this happened in 1980, but even though it would’ve been January 1981 when he entered the White House, the music being played is New Order’s Blue Monday, from 1983.
Similarly, Trump Tower was completed in 1983, and the music played is The Pet Shop Boys’ reworking of Always On My Mind, which was released in 1987.
Plus, one odd thing that IS real is the choice of aspect ratio for this film. It’s not a regular 1.85:1, and it’s not a narrower 4:3 ratio – which would’ve mimicked the 1980s along with the grainy look of the film, but is actually an inbetween 1.5:1 or so. Very bizarre.
There is no mid- or post-credit scene.
The Apprentice is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 122 minutes
Release date: October 18th 2024
Studio: Rocket Science
Aspect Ratio: 1.50:1
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 9/10
Director: Ali Abbasi
Producers: Ali Abbasi, Daniel Bekerman, Julianne Forde, Jacob Jarek, Louis Tisné, Ruth Treacy
Screenplay: Gabriel Sherman
Music: Martin Dirkov, David Holmes, Brian Irvine
Cast:
Donald Trump: Sebastian Stan
Roy Cohn: Jeremy Strong
Ivana Trump: Maria Bakalova
Fred Trump: Martin Donovan
Mary Anne Trump: Catherine McNally
Freddy Trump: Charlie Carrick
Russell Eldridge: Ben Sullivan
Roger Stone: Mark Rendall
Fat Tony Salerno: Joe Pingue
Al Formicola: Jim Monaco
Andy Warhol: Bruce Beaton
Ed Koch: Ian D Clark
Rona Barrett: Valerie O’Connor
Tom Bolan: James Madge
Victor Palmieri: Ron Lea
Barbara Katz: Edie Inksetter
Kinney (Reporter #1): Michael Thomas Hough
Theodore Green: Jai Jai Jones
Walter: James Downing
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.