Former and future First Lady Melania Trump remains a mystery for many Americans.
The ex-model has kept a relatively low profile, for starters. It doesn’t help that women’s magazines refused to profile her during her husband’s first four years in office. Expect the same media blackout during his next presidential term.
Even her memoir kept many personal details out of reach.
This explains why Amazon announced an official documentary focusing on Melania Trump. Directed by canceled filmmaker Brett Rather, the untitled film should hit theaters in the second half of the year, according to press reports.
Melania Trump, Amazon Prime to release ‘unprecedented’ documentary about First Lady’s life https://t.co/KMUdowPt0e pic.twitter.com/TRASkRttIb
— New York Post (@nypost) January 5, 2025
It’s not the first documentary on the subject, though.
The 2020 film “Looking for Melania Trump” peers behind her pristine public face. On paper, at least. In reality, the documentary reveals more about the filmmakers and their embarrassing dearth of research.
The film is available for Prime Video subscribers and via YouTube at the Hipstr channel.
Paper thin barely describes a film that limps to near, but not past, the hour-long mark. Filler abounds, and for every objective observation, there are dozens that are either cruel or petty.
The journey starts in Slovenia, Melania Trump’s homeland. We spend little time here, quickly moving to New York where the young model found some success.
How much? The documentary doesn’t sweat such details. Go Google it, perhaps?
We get endless talk of beautiful women and the cynical nature of modeling, a revelation that’s on par with the sun coming up every morning.
We’re told Melania Trump disappeared for three years, with the narrator musing where she could have went. Yes, Russia is an imagined destination.
Of course.
The former model “gradually becomes the perfect trophy wife,” we’re told, part of the film’s endless commentary based on file footage and grievances.
Interviews are sparse. We briefly meet an old boyfriend, a real estate agent who works the Palm Beach region and a photographer who dubs the young Melania programmed and purposeful.
Later, we get a protracted profile of The Trumpettes, MAGA super fans who adore all things Trump.
Like the First Lady.
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Director Laura Haim insinuates this is Melania Trump’s fate, to be old and rattling around tacky Florida parties once Donald Trump has left this mortal coil.
The real Melania Trump may, indeed, be an empty-ish vessel. Or, she’s more wise and winning than anyone expects. The film doesn’t come close to solving its central mystery.
Instead, we meet a 40-something woman who embraces plastic surgery to look more like Melania Trump. Stop, please! We’re learning way too much.
The few interesting moments come when the filmmakers ask Trump supporters why they embrace the future First Lady. These voters-to-be project plenty upon her.
Graceful. Elegant. Kind. Patient.
It’s all true, to some extent, but it’s more wish casting than anything else.
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The tone here is oddly respectful, even if the narration rarely is. An out-of-left-field segue involving former State Rep. Christina Hagan, allegedly inspired by Melania Trump’s impact on the GOP is sympathetic at times.
It might have worked better if “Looking” had leaned into its tawdry premise. Go big or go home. Ask Michael Moore how that works.
Ka-ching!
Instead, the staid presentation clashes with the uppercuts in motion.
The film hyper-focuses on minor moments in the first Trump term, like the First Lady brushing her husband’s hand away at a public event and a jacket that put the far-Left media in its place.
Scandals, all. At least, according to the narration.
The funniest commentary comes from a reporter from the far-Left Daily Beast. The journalist reads exactly what you expect her to read into both the First Lady and women in the GOP circle. Does anyone have a grain of salt?
The indie film’s production values aren’t slipshod. The musical choices are similarly engaging, even playful at times. This doesn’t look like a rush job, even though the lack of details is jarring.
You may know less about the First Lady after watching “Looking for Melania Trump.”
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