The Apprentice

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★The Apprentice

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Ali Abbasi

Written by: Gabriel Sherman

Produced by: Daniel Bekerman, Jacob Jarek, Ruth Treacy, Julianne Forde, Louis Tisné, Ali Abbasi

Starring: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Catherine McNally, Charlie Carrick.

‘If you’re indicted, you’re invited.’

A clever play on the Donald Trump TV series, (‘you’re fired’) The Apprentice, the apprentice, here, is Donald Trump.

Based on true events, the film is about the relationship between Trump (Sebastian Stan) and ruthless lawyer, Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong).

Director Ali Abbasi states: “I hope that people, no matter how they might feel about Donald Trump, can watch the film and really experience this relationship. It’s not supposed to be an ideological attack or a polemic debate. It’s about depicting a certain complexity in these human beings.”

The film begins in the 70s, when New York was known as The Fear City.

With his father’s (Freddy Trump (Charlie Carrick)) company currently indicted for a racist policy when leasing apartments in their buildings, Donald’s dream of converting the debilitated Commodore Building into a luxury hotel is impossible.

Meet, Roy Cohn.

Roy’s first seen with a devilish look through an open doorway – he sees Trump struggling to make an impression on his date, ‘Why are you so obsessed with these people?’

Because Trump knows that the people in this place are billionaires, the decision makers with connections.

And he wants to be one of them.

Cohn takes pity on Trump.  He likes him.  So agrees to show Trump how it’s done, starting with his three golden rules of winning:

Rule 1. Attack. Attack. Attack.

Rule 2. Admit nothing. Deny everything.

Rule 3. Claim victory and never admit defeat.

Trump needs to be able to do anything to anyone.

There’s a naivety to Trump in the early days – cap in hand, knocking on tenant’s doors to collect rent.  Compared to Cohn and his connections, Trump is a mild-mannered businessman who likes the ladies.

Trump is uncomfortable drinking, he doesn’t smoke, do drugs.  Except for taking diet pills, AKA cheap amphetamine, so instead of sleeping, he can continue to make deals.

Trump loves making deals.

He also falls for Ivana.

Ivana isn’t like other girls. She’s feisty.  Ambitious.

Roy makes sure she signs a prenup.

This is Trump’s origin story.  He comes from a solid but dysfunctional family with a tyrannical father that’s ashamed of his eldest son because he’s an airline pilot.

The loose parties Cohn hosts are something Trump hasn’t seen before.

‘If you’re indicted, you’re invited.’

But Trump’s a businessman who wants success.  And Cohn is the man to get him to the top.

As Trump’s apprenticeship comes to an end, the power Trump cultivates begins to corrupt:

‘Run ‘em over Simon,’ he tells his driver as they’re stopped by an AIDS protest.

‘I’m kidding,’ he adds.

Over time it becomes apparent Trump has no shame.

“In life, there are two types of people. There are killers, and there are losers.”

—Donald J. Trump

The Apprentice is a vastly entertaining film, the image a gritty 70s vibe.

The tone is set with the red light of dabaucherous parties, the perfectly timed moments like Trump holding onto his vomit until he gets out of Roy’s car – then sputtering an upchuck out on the street to confirm his make-or-break appointment – to the city reflected in Trump’s eye as he observes his dominion.

Writer Gabriel Sherman (author of the New York Times best-selling biography of Fox News founder Roger Ailes, The Loudest Voice in the Room), states: “My worst nightmare for THE APPRENTICE was that it was going to be something predictable or bland, or on the other extreme, a political polemic that’s just one-dimensional cartoon,” Sherman says. “I wanted to write these three-dimensional characters that were complicated and flawed and surprising and frustrating just in the way that real people are.” Adds Baer: “I knew that this film would have so many inherent challenges along the way, and I didn’t want to add another one by having it perceived as a political statement by an American director.”

The Apprentice is anything but bland or predictable.

A great storyline that’s more a psychological unpacking of Trump’s origin than political statement, with pacing and pitch perfect performances make this a much better than expected film.

Insightful and entertaining.

A must watch.

 

The Gentlemen

Rated: MA15+The Gentlemen

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Screenplay by: Guy Ritchie

Story by: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson & Marn Davies

Produced by: Guy Ritchie, Ivan Atkinson, Bill Block

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Marson, with Colin Farrell and Hugh Grant.

Opening with a pint, a pickled egg and a song on the juke box, the tone is set as kingpin of the marijuana trade (AKA bush) Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) begins the story of his journey to get out of the business.

Time has gentrified the once bloody beginnings of this man coming up the hard way.

Mickey wants to take long walks, plant roses and spend time with his lovely wife.  Well, maybe lovely isn’t the right word, more, super-sharp, won’t-take-anything-from-anyone-but-loves-her-man, Rosalind (Michelle Dockery).

But no good deed goes unpunished, so eloquently stated by Mickey’s right-hand man, Raymond (Charlie Hunnam); the tale of the story narrated in Raymond’s kitchen by dirt-gathering journo/PI, Fletcher (Hugh Grant), as Fletcher attempts to blackmail the kingdom of Mickey, the information he holds given in the dramatic fashion of cinema in 35mm film, anamorphic (so to speak) and in true Guy Ritchie style.

The comedy of this gangster film really hits the mark.  This has a lot to do with the brilliant casting of Hugh Grant as the dastardly Fletcher.

This reinvention of Hugh Grant has a unique flare that makes him an incredibly entertaining villain.  Think Paddington II with an adult rating.

The intricate tale of dirty deeds and moves ahead of moves also keeps up the entertainment while throwing in segues from one scene to the next like a stage production, as each ‘liquorice assortment of tasty mates,’ are introduced:

Michelle Dockery as Rosalind, the luxury car and repair entrepreneur tough and sexy in her super stiletto heels and Cockney accent is fantastic.

As is Colin Farrell as the Irish boxer, Coach.  Who else could pull-off so much check in an outfit?!

Coming to accents, I still can’t believe Hunnam speaking anything else but American.  It seemed his accent went from Brit to Irish to something that was a hybrid of all the above.  He still has a good death stare though, and his distaste of the heroin, junkie digs is shown with a delightful twitch across his handsome, bearded face.

Which brings me to Matthew McConaughey – yep, it’s an all-star cast, as we’ve come to expect from a Guy Ritchie film.  Best role I’ve seen him in since True Detective.  McConoughey wears that kingpin suite very well while throwing out lines like, ‘Doubt creates chaos in one’s own demise.’

There’s a, taking-from-the-poor-giving-to-the-rich, element to the story.  But hey, at least bush doesn’t destroy (like heroin), it just makes some people go insane.

But I get the distinction.

Overall, The Gentlemen is fiercely entertaining – think ‘fight-porn’ – on many levels, most importantly, the film has a clever story that’s good fun to watch.

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