Trump’s tale given Godfather treatment in The Apprentice

The Apprentice is sure to fire up strong opinions as the United States enters its election season.

The film sees a young and innocent Donald J. Trump taken under the wing of lawyer Roy Cohn who molds the 45th President of the U.S. into the confident and power-hungry man we know today.

Played by chameleon Sebastian Stan, who I’m convinced can play anyone on Earth, this is Trump as we’ve never seen him before.

At the start, this younger naive version refuses to drink alcohol and aims to please his father by going door to door and collecting rent from tenants in their high-rise NYC apartment building.

After catching the eye of Cohn (played effectively by Succession’s Jeremy Strong) at a millionaire’s club, the aggressive lawmen becomes a mentor and guide to the world of New York finance.

The mantras and rulebook provided by the McCarthy hearing prosecutor largely become the ideals of the MAGA movement.

It’s a fascinating transformation guided by the skills of a leading man up to the task of anything.

Stan goes from baby-faced business tycoon to spot-on impression over the course of two hours.

After a promising opening, director Ali Abbasi (The Holy Spider) leans into tabloid gaudiness.

You can see why Trump’s team wanted to squash the film as salacious scenes such as the MAGA leader crying over his brother’s death; consulting a doctor about whether he can contract AIDs by touching (Cohn was allegedly a homosexual); and raping his ex-wife Ivana (played by Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova).

Abbasi makes an interesting choice to run a scuzzy 80s-style video filter to sell the time setting, but it honestly makes for an unappealing film to look at.

Even though the film is off-kilter, the two lead performances balance out the seedy approach.

Strong’s dead eyes and Stan’s morphing ability make this a recommended watch (as long as you aren’t a diehard supporter).

7 out of 10