The Apprentice review – cartoon version of chump-in-chief

Cannes film festival
Ali Abbasi’s film presents young Donald as an amoral narcissist, wastes the talent of Jeremy Strong and includes a grisly rape scene that is quickly glossed over

Donald Trump will not be the smallest bit worried by this genially ironic, lenient TV movie-style treatment of his early adventures in 70s landlordism, property and tabloid celebrity – and his own apprentice relationship with dark legal sorcerer and Nixon intimate Roy Cohn, the bully whose connections added to Donald’s wealth and who taught him to lie to others and himself and never admit defeat. There had been many rumours here in Cannes before this film screened about its rape scene, of which, more in a moment.

Director Ali Abbasi has given us fascinating monsters in the past with Holy Spider and Border but the monstrosity here is almost sentimental, a cartoon Xeroxed from many other satirical Trump takes and knowing prophetic echoes of his political future. It’s basically a far less original picture, its ambience borrowed from Scorsese and Coppola – with Donald’s deadbeat elder brother Fred even getting a “Fredo” scene where he gets embarrassingly, tearfully drunk at a big event, like the loser he is. And like so many film-makers these days, Abbasi will keep swooning over the picturesque sleaze of 70s New York.