Stan’s impression is a ginormous character smear
The Apprentice is a biographical drama based in the 70s and depicts the rise of a young Donald Trump from under his father’s wing and into the commerce limelight of New York City. Releasing just in time for the November election, it is clear the creators of this film (director Ali Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman) want to bomb Donald Trump’s chances of winning his potential second Presidency.
The Apprentice was screened at Fantastic Fest 24 as a surprise screening to 5 packed theaters all at once, with Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier, Dumb Money) personally walking onto stage to introduce the film in each theater. He said to the crowd “you can feel whatever you want to feel when you watch this. You can get mad, you can cry, you can feel shocked, and I hope you enjoy it”. I think this was his way of coaxing the audience into severe frustration and anger at Donald Trump even before the film started.
Outside the theatre in the foyer before the movie, there was significant buzz amongst attendees around what the surprise showing could be, and some friends I made at the festival said that it could be the new Sebastian Stan flick where Donald Trump “turns into a monster”. Now after seeing it, I can verify that in the movie Sebastian Stan does not physically turn into a monster but rather exhibits the behaviors and treatment of people that certainly mimic one.
Whether his actions in the film are factually true, or dramatized with significant hyperbole into unbelievable swaths of defamation, would need to be independently verified. I know not to believe everything in any Hollywood movie so upon my own research I could not, for example, independently verify that Trump factually underwent liposuction surgery on his stomach or a hair transplant.
There is a scene in the film that was hard to watch depicting a young Donny Trump laying on the operating table with pipes sucking his disgusting tummy fat out as we watch in horror. It was something out of a Frankenstein scene and truly smushes Trump’s face in the dirt. It made me wonder: Do thousands of people not augment their appearance? Fortune Business Insights estimates the global cosmetic surgery market was valued at $57.67 billion in 2023, and is projected to grow to $81.66 billion by 2032. Throughout this film director Ali Abbasi and writer Gabriel Sherman do an evil job of removing any humanity from Trump’s persona and that aforementioned fat being sucked out of Trump’s gut, I perceived as a metaphor for this. The director also has Trump fixing his hair in the mirror numerous times throughout the film and wants viewers to despise Trump’s vanity as if that has some correlation with his ability to run a country.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Trump’s campaign communications director Steven Cheung said: “We will be filing a lawsuit to address the blatantly false assertions from these pretend filmmakers. This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked.” I can’t say I blame him for this response.
Sebastian Stan really nails the character mannerisms of young Donald Trump and accolades to him. I have, however, seen a far better impression of Trump, namely Shane Gillis’ 2.5 hr performance on ‘Kill Tony episode 672’, which is available on YouTube in its entirety. The difference between the two is that Stan’s impression is a ginormous character smear, whereas Gillis’ is for comedy. I prefer the latter.
Compliment must also be given to Jeremy Strong who played Trump’s lawyer Roy Cohn with tremendous onscreen charisma and whom I found to be captivating in his delivery of each line.
Viewer beware, The Apprentice is defamation at its purest, and will leave the viewer breathing deeply in agony at the potential of Trump taking office again. Mission accomplished by director Ali Abbasi