‘Melania’ Discloses Little About Our Elusive First Lady

The documentary “Melania,” which opened in theaters Friday, begins with drone footage of waves crashing at Mar-a-Lago and then cuts to a closeup of Melania Trump’s Christian Louboutin heels with their signature red soles. Set to the Rolling Stones’ ‘Gimme Shelter,” the opening paints a grand cinematic spectacle, following Mrs. Trump as she gets into an SUV, trailing her motorcade by drone, and then showing her board a private plane to New York. “Everyone wants to know, so here it is,” the famously private First Lady says in voiceover.Viewers wanting “to know” Mrs. Trump or to watch more than a hagiographic portrait will be disappointed. The next one hour and forty minutes of the film is primarily a compilation of the same shots as the opening — getting in and out of SUVs and planes and following Mrs. Trump as she walks — just with different outfits and music and, yes, more Louboutin heels. Those red soles are the only ones bared.Directed by Brett Ratner, the film trails Mrs. Trump for the 20 days leading up to the inauguration of her husband as the 47th president. Mr. Ratner is best known for his blockbuster comedy “Rush Hour” trilogy. “Melania” is the first film Mr. Ratner has made in more than a decade, since getting cancelled after six women accused him of sexual misconduct. He denies the charges.Amazon bought “Melania” for $40 million and is putting another $35 million into marketing and distribution. Mrs. Trump is reportedly pocketing more than $20 million for her involvement in the film, including as a producer with editorial control.The film has the look and feel of a big budget Hollywood production with a soundtrack to match (Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown, to name a few). Yet it is expected to gross only $5 million this opening weekend, fueling speculation about why Jeff Bezos paid so much for it. Reports of poor ticket sales and even a Craigslist ad offering to pay people $50 to watch it in the theater have dogged the movie’s release. The showing I went to, though, was sold out, save for one seat. The average age of moviegoers looked to be about 65.The first part of the film shows Mrs. Trump getting fitted for her inauguration outfit and approving tablecloth and invitation designs for inauguration events. The fittings are shot at Trump Tower in front of a wall of windows overlooking Central Park. Mrs. Trump and those around her repeat lines about her fastidiousness and attention to beauty, down to micromanaging how many tenths of an inch her blouse collar peeks above her coat. This is not deep stuff, but the message is that everything the public sees is carefully curated by the First Lady — including the film. In another scene, Mrs. Trump approves a gold egg filled with caviar as the starter for a candlelight dinner with donors the night before the inauguration. Luxury and wealth are highlighted throughout. Later in the film, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are pictured at the dinner, sitting at the president’s table. In a perhaps unintended comedic moment, Mrs. Trump says in voiceover, “One of my goals is to evolve the role of First Lady beyond formal social duties.” The film then cuts to the candlelight dinner and the golden eggs being served.A former model from Slovenia, Mrs. Trump has beauty, poise, and fashion choices that are a central focus of — and carry — the film. The attention to her footwear borders on comedy. When she finally takes off her heels at 2 a.m. in the White House at the end of inauguration day, the three women in their 60s sitting in the seats next to me sighed.There are also serious portions of the film. Mrs. Trump meets with a released Hamas hostage, Aviva Siegel, whose husband is still being held in captivity. She promotes her “Be Best” and “Fostering the Future” initiatives in a video chat with France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, and in a meeting at Mar-a-Lago with the Queen of Jordan. Mr. Ratner trains the camera on Mrs. Trump’s tearing eyes as she watches news coverage of the Palisade fire. Mrs. Trump asks about safety protocols for the inauguration parade, adding that her son Barron says he will not get out of the car.A significant portion of the film highlights the devastating loss of Mrs. Trump’s mother in January 2024. Mrs. Trump talks about the importance of family in her voiceover, though neither Barron nor any of Mr. Trump’s other children speak to the camera and are only visible at inauguration events. Aside from hired help, Mrs. Trump is often alone. Mr. Trump only makes brief appearances. Mr. Ratner’s choice to focus on Mr. and Mrs. Trump holding hands as they walk in several scenes is a clear rebuke to speculation about the state of their marriage.There are a handful of moments in the documentary that shed light on Mrs. Trump, her personality, and her values beyond canned voiceover lines. In one scene in the back of an SUV, Mr. Ratner asks Mrs. Trump who her favorite musical artist is. She answers Michael Jackson and says she met him once and had his LP when she was younger. “Billie Jean” has already played in the film, but Mr. Ratner puts it on in scene and prods Mrs. Trump to sing by belting out the lyrics himself. Mrs. Trump, for the first time, starts to loosen up and sings softly. The main lyric that is audible is “Mamma always told me be careful who you love.” Then she laughs.In another quick moment, coming off stage from dancing at one of the inauguration balls, Mrs. Trump does her own short rendition of the YMCA dance that her husband made popular with his supporters. At the end of inauguration night, she finally appears relaxed and beckons the camera to follow her into the kitchen to watch Mr. Trump raiding the fridge at 2 a.m. Yet these moments of levity, where her humor and charm comes through, are few and far between.The film tries to establish a line between iconic first ladies of the past and Mrs. Trump. At the end of the film, the camera scans portraits of Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy and then shows Mrs. Trump getting her official portrait taken. Mr. Ratner’s decision to treat some of the film’s footage with a Super 8 effect is another nod to Mrs. Kennedy and the mythos of Camelot.The Super 8 gimmick, though, gets trying as the film progresses. Like the music choices, which often feel too pointed, the Super 8 effect acts like a hammer and cheapens any similarities to the Kennedys that Mr. Ratner or Mrs. Trump is trying to make. The list of Mrs. Trump’s accomplishments as First Lady that scroll on the screen at the end of the film highlight that “Melania” is more advertisement or Trump branding than cinematic work of art.

‘Melania’ Discloses Little About Our Elusive First Lady

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