Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice made a worldwide splash around this time last year, partly for Sebastian Stan’s performance as Donald Trump and partly for managing to release the Trump biopic as he bid for a second term as president. India was one of the markets excluded from the film’s wide release, as the CBFC withheld certification, refusing to clear it. Finally, this week, thanks to streaming, the film finally found its way to Indian audiences, albeit belatedly.
The Apprentice is Trump’s ‘origin story’
Before watching The Apprentice, I was wary of another biopic that turns a polarizing figure into an anti-hero, as we’ve seen in American Sniper and The Monster series. But the movie surprised me, and pleasantly so. The Apprentice is not about the life and times of Donald Trump. It is not even about them coming to power. It’s simply a satire of how capitalism corrupts, and serves as almost a villainous origin story for the current boogeyman of every Gen Z liberal.
Director Ali Abbasi comes up with a simple idea – what if Donald Trump had once been a naïve, though morally flexible, ambitious young man. The film begins from there to show how Trump (the film) corrupts himself without any external pressure or mitigating circumstances. It’s a cleverly crafted story about Donald Trump becoming a beloved (and often ridiculed) real estate magnate at the age of 30.
Where Ali Abbasi succeeded
To Abbasi’s credit, the film brings out Trump’s signature charm, but never makes the mistake of making him relatable or lovable. The film understands that Donald Trump is a charming and magnetic personality. You don’t become president of one of the most powerful countries in the world, with a population of 350 million, without a lot of charm. However, The Apprentice reveals that the charm is a façade, an exterior that hides a young man’s ambition. Even though the film stays away from Trump’s politics, it still sheds some light on the man, which is a bold move considering how ‘intolerant’ some of his followers can be towards criticism of any kind.
But then is The Apprentice a criticism? Or is it just documentation? The film is not a documentary. There’s a slant, an angle, and some kind of bias that every storyteller has. But it does a great job at sticking to the facts, even while making sure they never get in the way of a good story.
Salute to Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong
A lot of credit should also go to both the chiefs. Sebastian Stan as a young Trump embodies the bleak American dream. He is someone who will do everything to succeed. At first, you find him mesmerizing, and then as the mask comes off, you realize how seductive yet toxic that can make a person. The actor revealed he has a lot more to offer than playing supersoldiers, bringing Trump’s magnetism, moral ambiguity and smooth-talking charm to the forefront, while still maintaining some vulnerability, ensuring he plays a man, not a caricature.
But the backbone of the film is Jeremy Strong as Trump’s mentor (and producer), lawyer Roy Cohn. That gives you the audience’s perspective on the rise of Trump. He meets a young Trump as a ruthless, mean-spirited lawyer who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. He takes the tramp under his wing but soon realizes that the student surpasses the master in cruelty and meanness. How Jeremy Strong subtly shows us that the shifts in Cohan’s vision are what make this film so special.
Does The Apprentice insult Donald Trump? Doesn’t this show ‘his’ side of what happened? Only Trump knows the answer to this. What the film does manage to do is present a cross-section of the rise of one of the most polarizing and powerful figures in modern history. And it does it without fear, if not dishonesty.
The Apprentice is (finally) streaming on Lionsgate Play in India.
