OUR REVIEW OF THE TRUMP SHOW
Movie critic Jay Stone grades Trump’s inauguration spectacle
They held the presidential inauguration on Friday, the latest episode in a longrunning American franchise that’s practically as venerable as Batman, except with The Joker taking over the starring role. You expected Donald J. Trump to greet the public with the words, “Why so glum?”; indeed, he made his entrance with the glower of someone heading to his own impeachment (spoiler alert).
The performance began with the previous versions of the iconic American superhero — played with varying success by Carter, Bush, Clinton and Obama — waiting on the stage for the arrival of Trump, who has taken over the part. He didn’t disappoint, even as he, well, disappointed. Like all leading men on the great American stage — one thinks of John Wayne — he gave the same performance that made him a star in the first place.
The result was a comforting narrative despite its derivative nature: When Trump addressed the forgotten Americans — promising to take power from Washington, D.C., and give it “back to you, the people” — it was as though one of his campaign speeches had been rewritten by Frank Capra. Even Capra, though, wouldn’t have dared the overused trope of allowing the rain to begin the minute Trump started speaking, a clanging bit of symbolism that bodes poorly for the artistic innovation of the next four years.
Trump, dressed in a symbolically long red tie — the campaign’s foray into sexual excess is part of the reason for the PG rating of his young presidency — delivered his lines forcefully if somewhat mechanically. What he lacked in innovation he made up for in self-confidence, and the furrowed brow and jabbing gestures of self-regard are what the public had come to witness.
Things were duller during the more scripted parts of the show. Trump’s pledge to protect and defend the American constitution, while never a thrilling moment in this historic drama, nonetheless lacked the gravitas of some of his predecessors. It’s widely accepted that the new president is no Abraham Lincoln — indeed, he isn’t even a Millard Fillmore — but Friday he also showed that when it comes to dramatic readings, he is also no Meryl Streep.
The technical credits were professional rather than inspiring. The production was not helped by a musical score that included the likes of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, with one member missing. The show could have used an appearance by Paul Anka, unavoidably absent for family reasons, who was to have sung a special version of My Way, that anthem to solipsism with an opening line (“And now, the end is near”) that is eerily apropos.
The supporting cast was likewise merely workmanlike, although this gave Trump the desired greyish background against which he could become more vivid. Although he is getting a little old to play the ingénu, Mike Pence gave his role just the right frisson of hero worship that we have come to expect from this veteran actor.
And special mention goes to Obama, who in an unexpected final scene, was shown talking genially with his successor and even laughing with him. It was an inspired feat of Method acting, although the mood was somewhat darkened by the sober presence of Melania Trump and Michelle Obama, both of whom looked liked women dragged to their husbands’ office parties and waiting vainly for someone to say something interesting. The secondary role of women in these productions — even Hillary Clinton was relegated to a role as an extra — is something that should be addressed one of these days. Jay Stone is a former Citizen movie critic.