It received mostly negative reviews, although Louis' performance was praised by some critics and by Donald Trump, who was not involved with the film but called it a "great compliment" despite some inaccuracies.
Real estate developer Fred Trump is speaking with an associate on a telephone, while his son, Donald, is stacking building blocks on a window sill that overlooks the Manhattan skyline.
As a young man, Donald goes against his father's advice and leaves his hometown to start his own real estate career in Manhattan, despite an ongoing recession.
Despite Peter's advice, Donald purchases the aging Commodore Hotel with plans to renovate it, so he can attract financiers for larger projects in the future.
Donald is upset when Trump Tower's height is reduced to 58 stories, although he decides to continue referring to it as a 68-story building, believing that the floor numbers do not have to be in sequential order.
Donald eventually brings Marla as his date to the grand opening of the Trump Taj Mahal resort in Atlantic City, a project that Robert had warned against.
On opening night, difficulties arise when half of the slot machines are shut down; as a result, Robert decides to quit overseeing Donald's casino projects.
In February 2005, American Broadcasting Company (ABC) announced plans for a then-untitled two-hour biographical television film about businessman Donald Trump that would chronicle the past 25 years of his business career and personal life.
Keith Curran was announced as writer for the film, which would be an adaptation of Gwenda Blair's biographical book, The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire.
[13] Linda Stasi of the New York Post called the film a "horrible, laugh-out-loud TV movie that's supposed to depict the life of The Donald, but ends up off-point, clueless, dull as dirt and as amateurish as a high-school play."
Stasi praised Louis' performance as "the only good thing" about the film, and criticized Katheryn Winnick, "who looks nothing like Ivana and sounds nothing like, well, anyone who's ever lived.
[…] The Donald should go to court tomorrow and try to get an injunction to stop it from airing – just to save unsuspecting viewers from being exposed to such hazardous waste materials.
Crust called Louis' performance "spot-on", and noted that the accent used by Winnick "seems to fall somewhere between the wild and crazy Festrunk brothers of early 'Saturday Night Live' fame and the Gabor sisters".
"[15] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote that Louis "perfectly captures Mr. Trump's Queens accent and hyperbolic speech, though his hair stylists did not do full justice to the baroque architecture of the real estate mogul's coiffe."
Stanley felt that the film's title was misleading: "Even though his reality show, 'The Apprentice', is on NBC, a rival network, ABC portrays Mr. Trump as a pleasant egomaniac and likeable liar who is nonetheless true to his word in the end.
"[16] Brian Lowry of Variety wrote that the film "fails to get under that famous mop and expose what makes Trump tick — perhaps because there's limited evidence of depth beyond the bluster.
Lowry also criticized the accent used by Winnick, and wrote that the relationship between Donald and Ivana Trump "unfolds like a series of postcards, with about as much context.
The only revealing sequences come when the couple negotiates a prenuptial agreement as a kind of foreplay, before eventually breaking up via a series of exchanges in Liz Smith's column.
"[1] Sid Smith of the Chicago Tribune praised the performances of McLarty, Baxter, and Potter, and wrote that Louis "looks more like actor Owen Wilson and, try as his stylists might, he doesn't really duplicate that inimitable, iconic hairdo.
Smith wrote that the film "plays for laughs and as a speedy trip through tabloid memory," and concluded that "strange as it sounds, it actually succeeds in earning the guy a smidgen of sympathy.
"[17] Reviewers for People wrote that Louis "doesn't bear much resemblance" to Trump, and that "after we see the mogul shed a tear over press reports of his massive debt, the filmmakers basically skip the '90s, omitting the details of what he later calls the 'single greatest corporate comeback in U.S.
"[18] John Leonard of New York magazine wrote that the film contained no "surprises" and that Louis "has a lean and hungry look that's altogether missing from the man he impersonates".
[19] Gail Pennington of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote that Trump Unauthorized "turns out to be a lively and amusing movie", stating that it "is certainly entertaining" and "full of snappy lines."
Bianculli wrote, "Lewis' makeup artists don't get the hair right, but clearly almost all of the budget went for outfits worn by Katheryn Winnick as Trump's first wife, Ivana.
However, Trump stated that some parts of the film were "totally wrong" – including the character of Peter Wennik, who never existed – although he said he would not sue the filmmakers.