“The Apprentice” illuminates the making of our once and future strongman president

With Trump’s reelection, it may be hard to read or watch anything on Trump, but director Ali Abbasi’s recent feature “The Apprentice” is useful for gleaning insights about how we got to where we are. 

Abbasi, an Iranian living in Sweden, described his film – about Donald J. Trump (Sebastian Stan) and his friendship with Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) – as “not a political hit job,” but rather, “a mirror on America from a non-American.” 

That’s an admirable approach, and perhaps an outsider needs to show Americans how Trump is perceived. But it is hard to view “The Apprentice” as an unbiased film. Abbasi depicts Trump with jaundice — if not extreme prejudice. Abbasi is addressing “capitalism, truth and justice,” but he is emphasizing how lurid the American Dream is. (“Liberals hate capitalism” is one juicy line from the shrewd screenplay by Gabriel Sherman.)

Abbasi acknowledges that his film is “based on real people.” But the insight into Trump’s character — and character is what Trump does — comes from seeing how he goes from desperate to despot. Set in the 1970s and 1980s and depicting Trump’s effort to “Bring New York back” through real estate, the film could be read as a biopic that tries to humanize Trump in his initial efforts to succeed against oppressive forces. However, it also reveals his lack of dignity. He is tactless, following Cohn into a restroom to beg for his help or scarfing down cheeseballs and talking about midget wrestling at an Atlantic City casino buffet. 

Trump, the film shows, does not accomplish much on his own, other than begging favors and incurring debts. When he whines about a lawsuit accusing his family’s real estate business of unfair (i.e., racist) practices, he asks Cohn to help him get it dismissed. Needing a tax abatement for Hyatt Hotel chain (so Trump can build the property he wants) involves Cohn blackmailing a city official. Trump may be a striver, but his biggest success is to get others to do his dirty work for him. 

What does Cohn get in return for his noble efforts? Quid pro quo is his answer, but perhaps it is also the chance to feel self-important again. The film suggests Cohn’s last great achievement was his first — sending both of the Rosenbergs to the electric chair in 1953. “Whatever I do, I do for America,” he intones with smarmy conviction. But maybe Cohn just wants to bask in Trump’s sycophantic hero worship of him? When Cohn later suggests, “Trump reminds me more of myself,” it is hard not to cringe. 

More important is the way “The Apprentice” shows what Trump gets out of the relationship. The key to the film is that with Cohn’s support, Trump’s confidence is bolstered. Someone believes in him as much as he believes in himself. (Trump’s father thinly masks his contempt.) And this empowerment is a key to his character, and why he is so dangerous and threatening. Frankenstein has, indeed, created his monster, who abandons him for greater gains. 

Trump uses his clout (and Cohn’s name) to get Ivana (Maria Bakalova) into his exclusive club. (An early scene has Trump trying to impress his date with the fact that he is the youngest member of the club; instead, he catches the attention of Roy Cohn, who is not above putting his hand on Trump’s thigh.) 

Another choice moment is when Trump stands up to his bully of a father Fred (Martin Donovan) to show dad who is boss. When he later tries to bilk his father into turning over the family’s trust to pay off massive debts Donald incurred, his mother (Catherine McNally) thankfully intervenes. 

But the real key to the film is seeing how Cohn teaches Trump how to handle himself. “I fixed what others couldn’t,” Cohn snarls at Fred Trump at Donald’s wedding to Ivana. It’s a powerful line that had multiple readings about who is pulling the strings.

Cohn’s instructions to his apprentice are simple:

• Play the man, not the ball.
• Attack. Attack. Attack. 
• Deny everything.
• Claim victory. No matter what. 
• Create your own reality.
• The rules don’t apply. 
• Exploit your enemies and instill fear
• Violate technicalities (especially) when democracy is at stake.
• There is an advantage not to care what anyone thinks of you. 
• You must have a willingness to do anything to anyone to win.
• America is the biggest client.

Trump’s behavior ascending to President (a throwaway joke in the film) belies him adhering to these rules.

“The Apprentice” shows how the bromance between Trump and Cohn eventually cools and hits the skids. 

“I made you,” Cohn exclaims. 

“I made myself,” Trump retorts. 

Their shamelessness and amorality is shocking but it is also not. As they goad each other, they act pettily and childishly but is also great fun to watch the superb actors go toe-to-toe. Sebastian Stan brilliantly captures Trump’s facial movements and speech. He disappears into the role. And Jeremy Strong is fantastic as Cohn, also getting his character’s mannerisms down perfectly. Each performance is downright eerie. 

Their relationship can be summed up by a scene where Trump gifts Cohn some diamond cufflinks for his birthday. Ivana proudly discloses they are cubic zirconia — fake and worthless — showing the AIDS-stricken Cohn what Trump really thinks of him. A scene of the room being fumigated after Cohn leaves is equally telling.

But viewers may get the last laugh (or gasp, as it were). As Trump becomes empowered, he also gets messier. Abbasi does not shy away from showing Trump’s other worst qualities. A scene where he rapes Ivana is quite disturbing. In contrast, a running joke about the Donald obsessing about his hair has a fun, if gleefully nasty payoff in an episode involving Trump getting his head surgically stapled to impede his male pattern baldness. Arguably, the most unsettling episode in “The Apprentice” may be the juxtaposition of a funeral with Trump’s liposuction procedure all set to a group of children singing, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”  

Ultimately, “The Apprentice” is a cautionary tale as much as it is an origin story.

“The Apprentice” is playing in select theaters nationwide and available on digital.