Movie #3403 ........................."The Apprentice" (Amazon Prime)

Movie #3403 "The Apprentice" (Amazon Prime) This movie was despicable and raunchy, and everything I expected it to be considering the subject matter.  The film shows the slow climb of  Donald, The  Sociopath, as he moves  up the ladder of power, with Roy Cohn as his guide.  Cohn deserves his own movie/play --- wait, he has one entitled "Angels in America," an ironic and fitting title for this low-life human who was McCarthy's right-hand lawyer during the McCarthy trials, who was a homophobe who died of aids, and who Donald, The Sociopath  was an apprentice to on the climb to his presidency.I didn't like anyone in the film, but that stands to reason because Donald The Sociopath just hangs around despicable people like himself.  They feed off each other.  I kept  waiting for the "bad guys" in the film to screw up like they do in so many films and turn on each other, but no such luck.  He bullies and strikes fear wherever he goes.  He rapes his wife, he has his home fumigated after Cohn's visit  because of his fear of aids, he has fat removed around his belly and the bald spot on the back of his head, he buys fake diamond cufflinks for his lawyer,  he tries to get his father to sign his "empire" away on his death bed, and lies and bullies his way up.    It's a film I didn't want to see, but since it got an Academy Award nomination I felt the need to.   The AA nod is for  Jeremy Strong's  robot-like rendition of Roy Cohn  in the first part but who gets better in the second half, when he's dying of AIDS. I didn't feel vindicated after seeing this film; I didn't feel sad for anyone in it,; I didn't feel like cheering anyone on while watching.  On the contrary, I felt like taking a shower to wipe off all the hate, venom and lack of empathy that was spewed on the viewer by the apprentice.  He repeats as his mantra three lessons on the abuse of  power that he learned from Cohn:  1) attack! attack!  attack!, 2) Admit nothing, Deny everything and 3) always claim victory, never admit defeat.  He also learns: " Truth is whatever I say is truth," and he pretty much either says those rules over and over again or shows them.  This write up and the film really  is way too much time to spend on Donald, the Sociopath --- I'd give it a 3.  And I'd rather not ever see or talk about it again.

"THE APPRENTICE"    2024     R      2 hours and 2 minutes    Amazon Prime

A young man took over his father's real-estate businesss in 1970s and 80s New York, and got the helping hand of an infamous closeted gay lawyer who helped him turn this young man into a notorious legend.He teaches his new apprentice how to amass wealth and power through deception, intimidation, and media manipulation.  The rest is history.    Based on true events.

Director:  Ali Abbasi

Writer:  Gabriel Sherman

Actors:  Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong