The Apprentice

JP Liz V1

The origins of Donald Trump are brought to life in a provocative, electrifying portrait of the man and his mentor, Roy Cohn – a notorious lawyer who will never let the truth get in the way of winning a fight. Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong star as Trump and Cohn respectively with Ali Abbasi directing

Out October 18th

https://youtu.be/bvPRxy9kmSg

Looks like power house performances from two great actors and very timely the release

ancapailldorcha

It's very good. I just got back from it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm reading a biography of Trump now and there are some great little touches in it that I really appreciated.

2smiggy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122731294#Comment_122731294

a hit job on Trump or balanced ? (well as you can be for Trump, no one seems to have a middle ground)

ancapailldorcha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122731914#Comment_122731914

I think it's quite balanced. The BBC ran a piece quoting Stan as saying that they weren't out to do a hit job. It fits reasonably with the book I'm reading but it's still a Hollywood film after all.

Hontou

Jeremy Strong stole this film. Possibly one of the most chilling performances I have ever seen. Definitely deserves an Oscar nomination.

2smiggy

https://twitter.com/gabrielsherman/status/1851233771753750726?t=o0k1xdiNpkugUdDIfU8K3w&s=19

Coming to streaming before the election

Banjaxed82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122771631#Comment_122771631

Agreed. Film as a whole surpassed my expectations. Worth a watch

siblers

It was very good, much better than I anticipated. Jeremy Strong is excellent and I'd assume Oscar worthy and as the film went on, it felt more and more like the real Donald Trump, was very impressive by Sebastian Stan

Peter Dragon

Only seeing this now but saw the film day of release.

I really enjoyed it, and I expected to be very critical of it as I have I would suspect more than average knowledge of the story between the two main characters.

Stan is surprisingly good as Trump, but Strong’s performance is outstanding. His portrayal of Cohn is disturbingly accurate. I know he had his critics but I personally think he’s an amazing actor, and he absolutely nails this role. Stan’s Trump sways a little between fish out of water and American Psycho Patrick Bateman (the mannerisms rather than the murdering) at times, before settling on being the utterly ruthless “businessman” we know today.

I think the movie is pretty fair in its depiction of both characters. Neither are remotely likeable, nor do they desire to be liked. I doubt it would change anyone’s opinion of Trump either way. Cohn would be unknown I suspect to most people, and as hard as this may be to believe this movie actually manages to engender some sympathy for him, sympathy that is likely unworthy. Cohn was actually worse in real life than the movie depicts, but he was a fascinating character nonetheless. If you’re interested in him there are a couple of good documentaries on him incl. Where’s My Roy Cohn? and Bully, Coward, Victim, as well as some interesting books. He also features in some Trump documentaries and books. It’s an interesting rabbit hole of power, politics, blackmail, and general seediness.

Also worth having a look at is Get Me Roger Stone (still on Netflix) - Stone also features in the movie as the guy who comes up with an early incarnation of the MAGA tagline.

Delighted to see it’s on Prime, will do a rewatch soon.

bodhrandude

Enjoyed this, sits along nicely with The Comey Rule which depicts the older Trump played by Brendan Gleeson. Sebastian Stan nails Trump, in fact he just looks like Trump when he cameoed on Home Alone II, nice to see Jeremy Strong as well, I liked his character in Succession.

The White Wolf

I liked the film's matter of fact of approach. It doesn't dwell too long on any specific period of what the film covers which hurts it in some ways, but it works in the same way in that neither Cohn or Trump are quite worthy of winning our sympathy by focusing on their worst personal moments.

I don't have to say much about Strong, he was fantastic as usual, but I have to commend Stan for going from a person who was capable of some feeling, to the complete robot we know now. Great performance from both guys.