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

Funny or Die presents a satirical rendition of Donald Trump's 1987 best selling business book, The Art of the Deal.

I have to commend Funny or Die for putting together an all-star cast. Even Johnny Depp does a fine bit of acting here, and it may be his best work in a long time, aside from maybe Jack Sparrow. This could have been disposable Internet fluff, but everyone seems to have taken it about as seriously as you could.

My only concern is that it might run a bit long. I know it's not very long, but even in its shortness, it tends to get repetitive and they rely far too much on the "Trump is a racist" jokes. That seems too easy to me and really takes the bite out of what could have been possible here.

Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie is a mediocre TV movie that has its ups and downs in terms of writing, despite a talented cast. Funny or Die certainly gathered an impressive creative team to parody the most controversial presidential candidate in American history.

There are great cameos throughout, such as Patton Oswalt and Ron Howard as himself. The star of the show is Johnny Depp, taking a very interesting turn as Trump himself, he may not sound very much like him, but his mannerisms and dialogue is stellar, he brings the character to life in his own very unique way.

It does get tiring after a while, twenty minutes it and the humour started to die down for me, it was very one note, fifty minutes was too much. The run time may have been a bit more bearable if they were not so inclined to make the movie look extremely low budget, purposely making the colour off putting, I got the joke but it took me out of the "plot" too much. While there are certainly funny moments, The Art of the Deal falls flat for me, if you enjoy making fun of Donald Trump you might as well check out Funny or Die as they take the joke way too far, other than that avoid it.

A satirical adaptation of business tycoon Donald Trump's bestselling novel, as he teaches a young boy how to make it big in the industry.

Best Performance: Johnny Depp

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.

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.

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.