Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie

Context: I am not American, and do not live in the US.

In many ways, this could be compared to the 2015 HBO TV-movie 7 Days in Hell. It's essentially a long skit based around one central idea, featuring a number of celebrity cameos. It's something where those involved obviously must have had great fun making it, and that joy is transferred to the viewer.

There is also a case to be made for a comparison between this and 2015s Kung Fury. Both rely heavily on replicating (and exaggerating) the looks and feel of popular media from a former decade (specifically the 80s).

While I can not be sure about their motives, it's easy to imagine that the people involved with this meant this as a sort of satirical reflection over Trump's character, or as an comedic attack on him. Because of Trump's way of handling his legacy and public image (basically not caring), this is not a very successful game plan. And because the caricature of Trump in this movie is (sadly) believable, it never becomes all that funny.

While not the most amazing satire or the best by any means, Depp manages to do a great job at lampooning the man who gives them so much material to work with. There are a few dull moments or moments that where the humor is targeted to people specifically in the political sphere, but the majority of it is a good time. There are some 'reviewers' here who, like the Parody Trump portrayed in the film, are claiming 'character assassination' and 'politics have no place in media' and other such idiotic nonsense, while at the same time demonizing their own political opponents. There are also various cameos from 80's pop culture that will be a nice treat for fans of that generation of film. So if you are looking for a fun little comedy about our President Elect and his boisterous and often obnoxious personality and don't have a political stick up your butt, then give it a watch. It's worth 50 minutes of your time.

This movie is absolutely funnier than the 5.8 it's sitting at. Y'all salty af and it's hilarious. You coulda told me this movie was an exact copy of the book and I probably wouldn't have questioned it. Depp and Alf pull off a great performance!

Donald Trump didn't coin the phrase "There's no such thing as bad publicity," but he may as well have (and he might even take credit for it anyway). For a titanic media figure whose image was already virtually predicated on self-satire (even before his recent bid for presidency), Trump's belligerent braying has courted many a satire in his time, but few that have made much of an incisive mark. If anything, the glut of recent Trump riffing, from SNL to Jimmy Fallon, have more than likely backfired in their riffing intent, and only served to further bolster the outrageous silliness of Trump's media personality, rather than drawing much- needed attention to the many problematic aspects of his campaign. As James Poniewozik from the New York Times mused, "How do you spoof a candidate who treats campaigning like a roast?"

This is the major sticking point with Funny or Die's 'Donald Trump's the Art of the Deal: The Movie'. On paper, a fantastic idea - Ron Howard introduces a videocassette of Trump's (fictional) '80s-set informercial-turned-TV-movie, lost in "the Cybill Shepherd blouse fire of 1989" (one of the film's choicest one-liners) - the film plays as an overlong skit which flounders due to not being terribly funny, and crucially lacking in any particularly percipient satire. Is it amusing? Yes, for the most part, but fairly blandly so. With an unfocused sense of humour broadly skewing for everything from Citizen Kane gags (thank goodness for Patton Oswald and his cinema-literacy) to occasional pokes at the fourth wall (some more successful than others, though one mid-film "re-casting" bit is a winner), to toilet humour, preciously few bits raise more than a faint smile. Oddly enough, where the film really excels is as an '80s pastiche, with its washed out VHS fuzziness, corny montages, and chirpy, gratuitous child lead(s) acing the tropes enough to make John Hughes proud. There's even a Kenny Loggins theme tune, bless 'em.

Of course, the film's main bid for attention is its 'who woulda thunk it?' stunt casting of Johnny Depp as Trump - and, yes, it's as much of a rollicking success as you've heard. With the aid of some impressive prosthetics and a mighty hairpiece, Depp nails Trump's fidgety physicality and distinctive Queens bellow. However, he's also wise enough to dig beneath mere mimicry, finding notes of preening sinisterness and occasional desperation, entirely devoid of empathy, all coalescing into a performance that feels entirely human, and all the more unsettling for it. The gaggle of guest stars are also generally good for a laugh - Oswald, transposing his characteristic neurotic schlub into a Miami Vice villain is a scream, while Alfred Molina tirelessly fishes for peanut gallery one-liners as Trump's seedy "Jewish lawyer." Even if most of the cast are invited to retool their best bits from other work, they're all still on top form - Jack McBrayer revisiting his bubbly, hollow- eyed imp from 30 Rock, Henry Winkler his blustery hypocrite from Arrested Development, while Robert Morse gets one more adorable 'top of the ladder' yuk, and there's a Christopher Lloyd cameo so stupendous I won't spoil it here. Still, it's a shame such a superb ensemble isn't given more to do than be fairly repetitively roasted by Depp's Trump, believable as it may be.

'Believable,' ultimately, is the sadly operative word. If Funny or Die's intent was to defame Trump's image midway through the primaries, it's a bit of a redundant effort: such an unfortunately gentle satire is hardly news for Trump-opposition, while those firmly on Team Trump are unlikely be shaken by any of Depp's mugging, excellent as he is. Call it the Wolf of Wall Street effect (though The Art of the Deal is a far feebler effort): the artistic intent is to present Trump's misdemeanours at barely exaggerated face value, intending them to speak for themselves as inherently absurd and satirical. However, due to Trump's cult of personality, those already swayed by him are all too likely to reppropriate the joke as sincere, making it a bit of a disappointingly apolitical backfire of a political satire. Ultimately, Funny or Die's The Art of the Deal means well, but it's lazy, highly produced, and lacking in cohesion and teeth, muddying its point in a bunch of loud, airy bluster counterbalanced with infectious enough buffoonery to ride out in spite of itself. In short, it's everything Donald Trump would love.

-5/10

I liked the humor in this a lot. It was ridiculous without going SNL-level over-the-top. All the jokes paid off. The pacing was a tiny bit off, but it's short, so it doesn't make a big difference. The cast was really great. A lot of familiar faces playing familiar characters. Johnny Depp especially was great. You wouldn't even have known it was him if you didn't specifically know it.

Honestly, after what happened in 2016, this is what we needed. I wish I had watched it before, but oh well. You need the distance from the event to be able to see the comedy.