Movie Review: The Apprentice (2024)

Genre: Biography  

Director: Ali Abbasi  

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova  

Running Time: 122 minutes  

Synopsis: In a decaying New York City of the 1970s, Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) is a budding real estate developer still under the shadow of his father Fred (Martin Donovan). Donald dreams of building a glitzy hotel to help revitalize the city, and finds a mentor in cut-throat lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), who demonstrates the ruthlessness required for high-stakes dealmaking. Donald's confidence grows with every deal and he romantically pursues Czechoslovakian model Ivana (Maria Bakalova), but his ego starts to damage his relationships. 

What Works Well: This hard-hitting, behind-the-scenes look at the making of a mogul focuses on the spiky partnership between Trump and Cohn, with both Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong in excellent form. Writer Gabriel Sherman traces a rich arc from mentor/apprentice to domination/destruction, as Cohn imparts lessons from the big book of brutal business but also inadvertently unleashes latent narcissism. The fraught bond between Donald and his difficult father Fred is the other point of influence, and director Ali Abbasi deftly reveals a son determined to surpass his father's achievements and seeking elusive acknowledgement. The fast pacing gallops through a glitz and glamour world fueled by amphetamines, ambition, and a power-couple marriage, and still finds time to probe Donald's attitudes towards flailing brother Fred Jr. and the ravages of AIDS.

What Does Not Work As Well: Trump's challenge with the threat of bankruptcy is only briefly hinted at, and beyond dirty tricks, his penchant for structuring audacious deals is short-changed.

Key Quote:

Roy Cohn (to Trump): You create your own reality. Truth is a malleable thing.

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Movie Review: Armageddon Time (2022)

Genre: Coming-Of-Age Drama  

Director: James Gray  

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Chastain, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb  

Running Time: 115 minutes  

Synopsis: It's 1980 in Queens, New York. Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) enters Grade 6 with a natural talent for sketching and a special relationship with his kind grandfather Aaron (Anthony Hopkins). Paul's mother Esther (Anne Hathaway) is on the school PTA, emboldening his less than stellar behaviour, although his father Irving (Jeremy Strong), a plumber, can resort to severe punishments. After befriending impoverished black classmate Johnny (Jaylin Webb), Paul's life changes when his parents transfer him to a private school.

What Works Well: Inspired by the childhood memories of director and writer James Gray, this coming-of-age drama benefits from a warts-and-all approach. Young Paul Graff, brought to life by an engaging Banks Repeta, is often a disobedient rascal both at home and at school, moving the drama away from dreamy nostalgia and towards ragged reality. Themes of racism and privilege (black classmate Johnny gets the brunt of any punishments), antisemitism (the family is Jewish), politics (Reagan is about to be elected President, and this family therefore believes Armageddon will be unleashed), and imaginative escapades decorate the passage to adolescence. Anthony Hopkins as the wise old grandpa delivers the warmest adult performance.

What Does Not Work As Well: 

The fragmented plot happily settles in episodic territory where plenty of details (including the involvement of the Trump family at Paul's private school) ultimately add little value.

Key Quote:

Grandpa Aaron, to Paul: I've learned over the years, those bastards who say all that crap and garbage to your face will then say the same stuff behind your back.

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