film review: The Apprentice

 

Directed by Ali Abbasi

Written by Gabriel Sherman

ChinoKino review: A-

Reviewed by Allan Tong

Donald Trump doesn't want you to see this movie.

Pulling no punches, The Apprentice traces his relationship with nefarious New York lawyer Roy Cohn. Cohn represented the young Trump when he was a real estate developer from Queens, New York, struggling to follow in the footsteps of his overbearing father in the family business. It's the mid-1970s and New York City is broke, but young Trump (Sebastian Stan) wants to build a luxury hotel in seedy Times Square. Another problem is that Trump is accused of discriminating against Black people in one of his properties.  Desperate, Trump hires Cohn to coerce the powers-that-be--using blackmail--into granting Trump a massive tax break to build that hotel.

Not only that, but Cohn grooms Trump, seeing dollar signs in his disciple's future. The Machiavellian Cohn imparts three golden rules to student: 1) Attack, attack, attack. 2) Admit nothing, deny everything. 3) And no matter what, claim victory and never admit defeat. Armed with Cohn's cruel amorality, Trump builds a real estate empire that leaves a trail of lawsuits and liens (from unpaid workers and angry creditors) in his wake, all the while claiming to be the master of the business deal. 

All true, by the way.

Let's take a step back: Who was Roy Cohn? Described as "vile" and "malicious" by his own cousin, Cohn was a lawyer whose clients included four Mafia bosses and media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. He also hunted "homosexuals" and "perverts" in Washington, despite being gay and dying of AIDS in 1986. That same year, New York courts disbarred Cohn for unethical and unprofessional conduct for forcing a dying man to sign away control of his estate to him and the man's granddaughter.

Jeremy Strong (Succession) nearly steals the film with his powerful portrayal of Cohn. However, Strong and scriptwriter Gabriel Sherman add dimension to this villain, who actually believed he was on the side of Good using any means to fulfill his twisted, extreme-right wing view of America. Likewise, Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) delivers a fine performance as Ivana, Trump's first wife. She casts a powerful presence as one of the few figures to stand up to Trump, though I wish more light was shed on their fractious marriage.

No doubt, the Trump army will deny the film's portrayal of [spoiler alert] Trump raping Ivana (which she publicly alleged then watered down), his racism, his deadbeat history, addiction to speed, scalpal surgery to reduce baldness, his alcoholic older brother, and ultimately his betrayal of his so-called friend, Cohn. By the end of the film, Sebastian Stan succeeds in portraying Trump as a completely corrupt, empty man, the true successor to Roy Cohn.

The Apprentice opens across Canada in cinemas on Oct. 10.

film review Lucky Grandma

 

Directed by Sasie Sealy

Written by Sasie Sealy & Angela Cheng

ChinoKino score: A

Review by Allan Tong

Each summer, one movie comes out of nowhere and surprises audiences. In 2020, it's Lucky Grandma.

Part-gangster flick, part dark comedy, Lucky Grandma centres on a widower (Tsai Chin), chain-smoking and snarling from her Chinatown apartment in lower Manhattan. She has a successful children and lovely grandchildren, but essentially lives alone. One day, Grandma goes on a winning spree at the casino. She then crosses the bag man for the mafia and robs his booty. As viewers can guess, his mafia buddies come knocking on Grandma's door and she tries to outwit them.

Lucky Grandma could have played the comedy broadly and milked it for easy laughs. Instead, director Sasie Sealy and her co-writer Angela Cheng take a less likely--and more rewarding--approach by underplaying Tsai Chin's character, letting only the bad guys ham it up, and capturing Chinatown in claustrophobic noir. The movie is a drama, but there's enough dark comedy to keep the narrative sharp. Not an easy balance to strike, but it works.