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鈥楾he Apprentice鈥
Is it just my imagination, or is 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 a pretty interesting movie? Less than a month before a U.S. presidential election, you鈥檇 expect an eleventh-hour biopic on former president Donald Trump (which premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival) to settle for cheap smears and a bunch of propaganda. 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 works a little differently. It鈥檚 an actual, conflicted and sporadically insightful film, dramatizing what made Trump Trump at an impressionable period in his rise. Disappointingly, 鈥淭he Apprentice鈥 settles too often for broader, less illuminating touches. The performers save the movie from itself. As Trump, Sebastian Stan captures just enough of the familiar externals 鈥 the pursing of the lips, the frequent check-in with the nearest reflective surface to see how his hair鈥檚 doing 鈥 without doing an impersonation.
2:00. 2 陆 stars.
鈥楶iece by Piece鈥
A documentary about Pharrell Williams rendered entirely as a Lego movie? It鈥檚 understandable to be a bit skeptical of this gimmick, but in 鈥淧iece by Piece,鈥 directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville, it鈥檚 a gimmick that works. In an introductory bit of conversation about the film between the subject and director, it鈥檚 explained how the Lego style affords the somewhat mysterious and inscrutable Williams a shield that allows him to let his guard down while sharing his personal story. It also comes to make thematic sense in the larger narrative about how he understands his life and the context in which he exists. Of course, the Lego style is also just fun, a spin on the usual biographical documentary which tells the story of a creative genius through talking-head interviews and archival footage. Everything here is Lego: the interviews, the music videos, the home movies, the scenes of Williams returning to his hometown of Virginia Beach to perform a homecoming concert. The style is funny and cute, and while it offers him a modicum of privacy, it also makes you want to revisit the real thing when the film is over.
1:33. 3 stars.
鈥楽aturday Night鈥
There鈥檚 an existential question that runs throughout 鈥淪aturday Night,鈥 Jason Reitman鈥檚 love letter to the iconic 鈥淪aturday Night Live,鈥 and its chaotic entry into the world on Oct. 11, 1975. People keep asking the show鈥檚 creator and producer, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), what, exactly, the show is. It鈥檚 a question he鈥檚 not able to answer until nearly the end of the movie, at about 11:15 p.m. The film, which starts at 10 p.m. and takes place over the course of the 90 minutes leading up to the very first live show, utilizes an ominous ticking clock to count down to showtime. Over the course of those 90 minutes (which the film, with a run time of 1 hour and 49 minutes, fudges a bit), whatever can go wrong already has, will or is in the process of going wrong, swirling around the calm eye of the storm, Lorne. Though 鈥淪aturday Night,鈥 the film, feels ephemeral and somewhat fleeting, it represents something that has endured, and continues to, through the sheer force of will that is Lorne Michaels.
1:49. 2 陆 stars.
鈥 Tribune News Service