The Apprentice (2024)

The story of how a young Donald Trump started his real-estate business in 1970s and '80s New York with the helping hand of infamous lawyer Roy M. Cohn.

---

Main Cast:

Sebastian Stan

Jeremy Strong

Maria Bakalova

Main Crew:

Directed by Ali Abbasi

Written by Gabriel Sherman

Production Design by Aleks Marinkovich

---

There is no world where this film was on my most anticipated list. You couldn't pay me enough money to see where this deplorable human came from. No. Way. Until I started seeing reviews of the performances coming out of Cannes. Then, you couldn't keep me away. 

While the performances got all the accolades, it was the sheer magic performed by the production design team in creating NYC in the 70s and 80s that stole the show for me. Aleks Marinkovich and their team, working on a shoestring made me feel as if I was transported to NYC in that period. Shoot in TORONTO of all places, they used stock footage and true craftsmanship to build the world of Trump in NYC. I will link a fantastic interview with Marinkovich at the end of this review. 

Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice

There is an argument to be made that the reason the performances were so phenomenal is due to the choices made by Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong to not impersonate their muses, but to make them their own. 

Stan, in particular, used his lips and his face to become the Orange Menace. And to see his transformation over time, there is no world anyone could have done it better.

Roy Cohn, a notorious piece of shit, was played perfectly by Strong. There was an ooze of smarm that just surrounded him for the first two acts and then, the film did a masterful job at making us feel something for him after we hated him for most of the film. 

And Maria Bakalova, who I love so much, crushes her minimal screen time as Ivana Zelníčková. And there are two scenes where she shines... one of which is really hard to watch and will make you want to punch your screen. 

Maria Bakalova killing it as Ivana Zelníčková

I'm not sure how much of this is true, but to see where this disgusting person was born from is a tough watch. When we first meet Cheeto, you feel for the guy in the film. A simpleton that wants to be liked because his dad didn't love him enough. But you also see how a simple mind that craves attention can be molded into the hateful, disgusting, unfeeling person that stands before us now. And this film does a great job of showing the dangers of simpletons. 

The film itself has some pacing issues and is a bit redundant in its storytelling mechanism, but in the end, it didn't ruin my enjoyment of watching it. If you're one of the people like me who won't watch this because of the subject matter, do yourself a favor if you love good acting.

https://thewiderlens.ca/series/creative-spotlight/building-trumpworld-with-the-apprentice-production-designer-aleks-marinkovich/