The Apprentice verdict: Trump biopic receives lukewarm reviews from Cannes critics after campaign says it will sue makers of movie that shows then property mogul ‘raping’ his wife Ivana

The Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice has received largely lukewarm reviews from critics after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday.

The film, directed by Ali Abbassi and written by Gabriel Sherman, follows Trump during his career as a real estate baron in the 1970s and 1980s.

Sebastian Stan stars as the businessman turned politician, while Jeremy Strong plays his lawyer Roy Cohn and Maria Bakalova plays Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana.

The guards Peter Bradshaw gave the film two stars because he felt it offered a “cartoon version” of Trump’s early years.

He wrote: ‘The monstrosity here is almost sentimental, a cartoon taken from many other satirical recordings of Trump and with prophetic echoes of his political future.

‘It’s actually a much less original picture, its mood borrowed from Scorsese and Coppola – with Donald’s deadbeat older brother Fred even getting a ‘Fredo’ scene where he gets embarrassingly, tearfully drunk at a big event, like The Loser who he is.

‘And like so many filmmakers these days, Abbasi will continue to swoon over the picturesque sleazy of 1970s New York.’

That of the Telegraaf Robbie Collin was more positive, giving the film three stars, but criticized the picture for not offering viewers anything they didn’t already know about Trump.

He wrote: ‘The biggest problem with Ali Abbasi’s The Apptrentice is that the film is a character study with very little character to study.

‘But the specific nature of the psychology of the subject reflects the drama – how to say this tactfully? – rather little depth and twists.

‘Spoiler alert: the young Donald Trump was a cripplingly insecure and status-conscious wannabe whose big goals in life boiled down to getting rich, getting laid and working his way into his city’s billionaire social elite.’

IndieWire gave The Apprentice a similar assessment, arguing that it offers viewers no new information on the subject. However, the publication did praise Sebastian Stan for his performance.

They wrote: ‘The problem is that Abbasi is still possessed by a morbid curiosity about his subject that most Americans can no longer muster after eight years of studying a caricature of a person in Times Square more closely than any painting in the world. Louvre.

‘If we’re not concerned about the first criminal trial of a former US president (which hinges on cover-up payments to a porn star on the eve of a national election!), The Apprentice can’t do anything to shake things up. our attention.’

The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a more positive review, calling the film a “chilling account” of Trump’s partnership with Cohn.

David Rooney praised Sebastian Stan’s performance, writing: “Some may argue that Stan’s performance in the central role is a little too sympathetic, but the actor does an excellent job and goes beyond impersonation to capture the essence of the man .

“In a character study of a public figure who is both widely parodied and unknowingly parodies himself, Stan gives us a more nuanced view of what makes him tick.”

Variety Owen Gleiberman praised the first half of the film, but felt the quality declined as the film progressed.

He wrote: “The Trump we see is going through a mirror of betrayal, using his empire – and what is left of his emotions – to within an inch of his life.

‘And once that happens, we are simply watching a well-acted TV movie consisting of well-known anecdotes, built around the Trump we already know. At that point, ‘The Apprentice’, as good as it is, becomes much less interesting.”

Kevin Maher from The times Sebastian praised Stan for his “nuanced portrayal of Trump,” writing, “If there’s a problem with Stan’s version of Trump, especially in the early sequences, it’s that he’s almost too sympathetic.”

It comes after the Trump campaign announced it would sue the ‘pretending filmmakers’ behind The Apprentice because it shows the presidential candidate raping his wife Ivana.

It said it was full of long-debunked lies and belonged in a “dumpster fire.”

The film tells the story of the end of his marriage to Ivana, and at one point shows Trump raping his wife and asking, “Did I find your g-spot?”

In a 1989 divorce decree, Ivana made an accusation of rape, but withdrew it in 2015. She has now passed away.

“We will file a lawsuit to address the blatantly false claims made by these so-called filmmakers,” said Steven Cheung, Trump’s campaign director.

“This garbage is pure fiction that sensationalizes lies that have long been debunked.

“Just like the illegal Biden trials, this is election interference by Hollywood elites, who know that President Trump will retake the White House and defeat the candidate of his choice because nothing they have done has worked.

“This ‘movie’ is pure malicious slander, should not see the light of day and does not even deserve a place in the direct-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-close discount film store, it belongs in a dumpster.”

The makers of the film are also said to be in a dispute with one of its financiers, billionaire Dan Snyder, a Trump supporter and former donor to his campaign.

In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce decree, she stated that Trump had raped her. She claimed Trump pushed her to the ground and pulled out several handfuls of her hair.

Trump denied the accusation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but that she felt violated.

In a 1993 statement, she said: “At one time in 1989, Mr. Trump and I had marital relations in which he behaved toward me very differently than he had during our marriage.

“As a woman, I felt violated… I called this rape, but I don’t want my words to be interpreted literally or criminally.”