On June 16, 2015, Donald Trump announced his run for the presidency. Hardly anyone outside of Trump's inner circle took this campaign trail of his seriously, from smug celebrities who snidely predicted a Trump defeat to media pundits who simply shrugged the whole thing off. Fast-forward to January 20, 2017 and Trump's inauguration, an announcement which for many among the utterly shocked and stunned no longer was a laughing matter ... save for a few arguably unfunny impressionists who would soon take to lampooning the 45th POTUS. It's a bit difficult to determine from watching this whether the director of the film is pro- or anti-Trump. I suppose from a filmmaking approach this is a good thing, in that the film seems welcoming of both supporters and critics. Trump is portrayed here as one-dimensional: nothing more than an insulting quipster. Obviously, the man is and was so much more than this (a professional success, for starters), but TRUMP: THE ART OF THE INSULT isn't interested in fleshing out its subject, content it is only in depicting the former commander-in-chief as a lippy stick figure, a personified cardboard cutout with a mouth on him. This, exactly how Trump's critics viewed him, as likely the more low-minded of his admirers had also. TRUMP: THE ART OF THE INSULT will either have the viewer laughing with or at the star of the show. In that regard, it plays inclusive of a wide audience. For those anticipating to be intellectually stimulated, they do best to look elsewhere. (Recommendable, in my opinion, is a 2015 little known documentary titled "The Making Of Trump," a much more mature look at Trump, which chronicles his pre-political life.)
Mitt Romney. Jeb Bush. Barack Obama. Bernie Sanders. Rosie O'Donnell. Hillary Clinton. They're all treated to multiple barbs here, as are a number of other square suits and easy targets. A wheeler-and-dealer is usually born with the gift of the gab, and say what you will of Trump, one would have to agree that, if anything, he's a fluent speaker. A hemming and hawing driveler he is not. If he were, this film would have been a complete bore and disaster. This is basically a 90-minute-or-so compilation of Trump-expressed insults, one after the other-after the other-after the other. Needless to say, after so many minutes it begins to sound like a broken record. We learn next to nothing about Trump other than that he is a great banterer who took great delight in dissing those he disliked while in office. This one-track clips-athon is entertaining to a degree, yes, but all in all is junk food for the mind. If you get off on listening to someone spout endless cheap shots, backhanded compliments, comebacks, and the like, TRUMP: THE ART OF THE INSULT will in all likelihood aim to please. Personally, this was a rather tiresome ordeal to sit through. I thought this was maybe going to present some back stage footage, to counter a bit of the verbal bombardment. Instead, Trump is hardly shown outside of his speaking at rallies and debates, and in the latter case largely in the act of one-sided verbal exchanges. What with Trump not being re-elected, I suspect that for many people the world over his presence in the White House will be missed, if for no other reason than that this larger than life character provided some much needed and often amusing escapism from the six o'clock news during his first and only term in office. Indeed, those disappointed with the recent U. S. election results, may find some solace in watching this film. After all, for such ones, there are only fond memories to be played over and over and over and over.
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