2020-2029, Film Review

The Apprentice (2024)

Posted on November 23, 2024November 23, 2024 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

**© StudioCanal, Scythia Films, Profile Pictures, Tailored Films, Rich Spirit, AQuest Films, Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology, AC Films Inc., Wild7 Films**

The Apprentice – Film Review

Cast: Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova, Martin Donovan, Catherine McNally and Charlie Carrick

Director: Ali Abbasi

Synopsis: Charting the rise of New York real estate businessman Donald Trump in the 1970s and 80s under the tutelage of a ruthless lawyer…

Review: If there is one name that everyone on planet Earth has become extremely familiar with in recent years, it would be Donald Trump. For years, he was the face of a reality TV business show billed as the “ultimate job interview” on the back of his career as a businessman. Yet this was a mere prelude to a successful run to become the most powerful person in the world, the President of the United States of America. An intensely divisive figure during his campaign and while in office, his first stint as the leader of the free world was tumultuous, to say the least, and ended in disgrace. Consequently, as he stands to be returned to the job once again, this biopic which depicts the beginnings of his career as a wealthy New York businessman couldn’t be timelier, or scathing in its assessment of the man who is once again poised to become the most powerful person in the world.

It is 1973, and while on a date at a restaurant frequented by the city’s wealthy elite, years before he ever uttered the words “You’re fired” on TV, Trump (Stan) meets the unscrupulous and uncouth lawyer and prosecutor Roy Cohn (Strong). With the federal government pursuing a lawsuit against his father’s business empire for racial discrimination, Trump recruits Cohn as his lawyer to get the lawsuit dismissed, using underhand means. Eager to move away from his father’s sphere of influence, Cohn takes Trump under his wing as the latter moves to strike out on his own and looks to develop a hotel at a derelict site in the city. Along the way, Cohn teaches Trump his three vital lessons to live life by: “attack, attack, attack”, “admit nothing, deny everything” and “always claim victory and never admit defeat”. The last of those feels particularly significant and ominous, given the circumstances in which he refused to concede defeat in an election, which resulted in a violent insurrection at the heart of the US government decades later.

Much like the central figure of this biopic, controversy has followed this film from the get-go, as one of its early funders reportedly attempted to stop it from being released. Further legal action even came from Trump’s legal team to prevent the film from ever being released and it also became the subject of an angry social media tirade from Trump himself (nothing new there then). With the days of his first stint as President still all too fresh in many people’s minds (as well as the events that followed following his 2020 election defeat) Gabriel Sherman’s screenplay wisely avoids his time at the Oval Office, and instead focuses on the dynamic between these two men and how Trump takes a leaf out of Cohn’s book in terms of being utterly ruthless and determined to let nothing stand in his way from achieving what he wants, including musing about a run for President in the future, which the film takes some very unsubtle hints to demonstrate, including what would become his campaign slogan. It is a sobering reminder of the rampant ego Trump has always possessed. Here is a man who you can show all the loyalty in the world, and yet he will not hesitate to cast aside anyone who gets in his way, even the man who mentored him.

To portray a polarising political figure, especially one revered by some and loathed by others, is a daunting challenge for any actor. While there have been many comedic portrayals of Trump over the years, Stan’s performance is firmly grounded in reality. Even though the story is set decades before most people outside of New York knew who he was, Stan illustrates that significant research has gone into his role. He captures Trump’s unique mannerisms and way of speaking in a manner that never feels like parody or mockery, all while depicting his callousness and desire for power above all else. Alongside him, Strong delivers an equally outstanding performance as Cohn, skillfully bringing forth Cohn’s thoroughly unlikable qualities that make viewers uncomfortable each time he appears on screen. Strong is no stranger to the cutthroat world of power struggles and backstabbing, having showcased his talent in HBO’s award-winning series, Succession. It is a testament to his acting skills that even while playing someone as monstrous and unredeemable as Cohn, Strong manages to add a layer of sympathy, considering the circumstances he faced towards the end of his life.

The concentration on the relationship between Trump and Cohn and how that unleashes the monster that became the leader of the free world does mean that the relationship between Trump and his first wife Ivana ( an underutilised Bakalova) is not given as much screentime as it perhaps could have. However, it does include an explicit scene based on a divorce deposition Ivana filed against her ex-husband, which she then later recanted. Whether factual or not, it is a further illustration of this man’s contemptible character and his clear misogyny, which was further demonstrated by the now-infamous Access Hollywood tape. One can argue that this biopic doesn’t reveal anything that wasn’t already known. While that may be true, it shines a light on the scruples (or lack thereof) of a man who stopped at nothing in his pursuit of power and serves as a reminder of who the man entrusted with one of the most important jobs in the world really is.

While it doesn’t have the bite or shocking new revelatory details one might have hoped from a biopic of one of the most controversial figures of the 21st century, The Apprentice packs plenty of punch thanks to the performances of Stan and Strong.

2010-2019, Film Review

I, Tonya (2018)

Posted on February 7, 2018February 7, 2018 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

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I, Tonya – Film Review

Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, Bobby Cannavale

Directors: Craig Gillespie

Synopsis: Telling the story of controversial ice skater Tonya Harding who, whilst competing for her country in the Winter Olympics, becomes embroiled in a scandal following on attack on a fellow competitor Nancy Kerrigan.

Review: The lives of sports stars and professional athletes, are so often very glamorous, particularly when they enjoy success in their field and acquire incredible wealth and fame on a global scale. However, every once in a while, an athlete finds themselves in the public eye for all the wrong reasons. Take for instance, ice skater Tonya Harding. In the build up to the 1994 Winter Olympics, after an attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan was carried out, a massive public scandal ensued, and the fallout was quite extensive.

This infamous incident is not the focus of the whole movie though. Indeed director Craig Gillespie chooses to focus on Tonya’s entire life, from her early upbringing and being forced into ice-skating by her pushy/over-bearing mother LaVona Golden (Janney) to her marriage to Jeff Gillooly (Stan) to of course the infamous attack on Nancy Kerrigan. He chooses to tell this story in a very unique way, by having the characters as if they were being interviewed by us the audience, and then flashing back to the key moments in Tonya’s life. Constantly jumping back and forth in this manner can be problematic but the film is edited together tremendously well, ensuring it flows coherently.

In a performance that has landed her her first Oscar nomination, Robbie really shines as Tonya Harding. Despite some of her less than pleasant mannerisms and behaviour, she is in many ways a very tragic character. Clearly very talented, she never quite fully realised that potential, this is perhaps more down to factors beyond her control. Of course she isn’t perfect but, her extremely difficult mother and her topsy-turvy home life certainly didn’t help matters. Janney as Tonya’s mother is also getting some well deserved recognition. Almost every word out of her mouth is profanity or a derogatory utterance directed if not at her daughter, at someone else. Though she strives to do what’s best for her daughter, it certainly doesn’t yield the right results, and she certainly wouldn’t win any Best Mother of the Year Awards.

For a person who had more than a few dark and bleak moments in her lifetime, the screenplay does manage to inject some humour into this picture, which is in no small part down to LaVona’s outbursts, and the bumbling incompetence of some of the characters who played a key role role in the attack on Kerrigan. The aforementioned use of editing in the interviews to tell the story, intertwined with some frequent fourth wall breaking keeps the plot moving for the most part along as briskly as an ice skater who’s right in the middle of their routine would.

The film does suffer from a few pacing issues though, as it seems unsure as to which element it really wants to focus on at least in the first act. There’s also the not-so-small matter of the ice skating scenes themselves. While the camerawork to make them happen is impressive, there are a few scenes in which it is very apparent that we are looking at a stunt double, and not Robbie herself, which can be just a little bit jarring. Yet once we reach the third act and the now infamous attack on Kerrigan becomes the main focus, it becomes wildly entertaining, and serves a reminder of how even the smallest action can have devastating consequences on people’s lives and careers.

Unconventional in how it chooses to tell its ultimately tragic story, but with excellent performances from Robbie and Janney in particular fused with some very dark comedy ensures this biopic has some legs (or should that be skates?)

2010-2019, Film Review

The Martian (2015)

Posted on November 2, 2015March 27, 2026 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen

The Martian – Film Review

Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kata Mara, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Kristen Wiig, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sebastian Stan

Director: Ridley Scott

Synopsis: An astronaut is presumed dead after a deadly storm separates him from the rest of his crew. Yet after surviving the storm, he is alone on Mars and must use all the resources he can find to get back to Earth.

Review: The thought of being the only person on an alien world, with seemingly no means of getting off, and being one hundred and forty million miles from home, is one that would probably send most people in that situation absolutely bonkers, and give them a complete sense of hopelessness with very little chance of survival, and result in them frittering away the remainder of their days on the Red Planet. However, this is not applicable in the case of Mark Watney, who instead of that aforementioned feeling of impending doom, after he has been abandoned by his crew as he is presumed dead during a deadly storm, opts for one of upbeat and positive. In turn providing an extremely entertaining space adventure that fuses comedy and some intense moments brilliantly.

With his fourth entry into the science fiction genre, director Ridley Scott has produced a much needed return to form somewhat after his most recent run of films have been met with a less than positive response, namely Prometheus, Exodus and The Counselor. The likes of Alien and Blade Runner showed that Scott knows the genre and knows how to pull it off in some style, and in what is almost a blend of Gravity and Interstellar produces a third another enthralling space adventure in as many years. Interestingly enough (spoiler alert for Interstellar!) Matt Damon who had a surprise cameo in the aforementioned film is back in a very similar situation to the one he found himself in Interstellar, but this time he is the man we’re rooting for, and he brings charisma and great humour to this role, so much so that you cannot help but want him to succeed and find his way home. With his situation looking increasingly bleak, he has to use his intelligence and his botanist skills to ensure his survival.

While The Martian battles to stay alive on the Red Planet, the focus alternates between the team at NASA who are working to try and bring him home alive, whilst dealing with the PR disaster that a man was left behind on a hostile world. Whilst at the same time, going back and forth with his crew mates who are solemnly making their way back to Earth, contemplating their supposedly fallen friend’s fate. The cast is quite extensive and filled with some big Hollywood names, with the likes of Jessica Chastain as the captain of the Mars mission, Jeff Daniels as NASA’s CEO, Chiwetel Ejiofor with his expert knowledge of the Red Planet and Sean Bean as a flight director. It’s a big scramble for these guys to get the materials they need to ensure that whatever they can do to get Mark Watney home, they will do it, but not without some bickering and disagreement along the way.

It takes some bravery to take a story like this in which one man is almost certainly staring death in the face and make it uniquely entertaining, but this film managed to do it and do it perfectly, thus props must go to screen writer Drew Goddard for that. Matt Damon effortlessly brings his unique brand of humour and charisma to the role, whilst using his ingenuity and remarkable intelligence to try and survive. Yet it is far from sunshine and rainbows all the time, as there are more than a few intense moments where our leading man is put in some more than perilous, potentially fatal situations.

The Mars scenery is beautifully recreated and the direction, as is more often than not the case with Scott, is excellent. The score by Harry Gregson-Williams is tremendous and adds plenty of suspense and drama along the way. The film does drag in places and could have maybe been cut down in parts, but nevertheless, it is a pleasure to see Scott truly back on top form and for Damon to once again remind us of his remarkable talent.