First Lady Melania Trump talks about the American experience
First Lady Melania Trump shared her immigrant story and American pride while rocking a Dolce & Gabbana look at the Melania premiere.
Melania Trump’s new documentary started with an 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, below her husband’s approval rating.
“Melania” premieres Thursday night at the newly renamed Trump Kennedy Center with members of the president’s Cabinet, then opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, January 30th. and Several distinguished guests will be present, including: TV host Dr. Phil McGraw, rap superstar Nicki Minaj, and former New York City mayor Eric Adams.
The nearly two-hour film, directed by Brett Ratner, delves into the 20 days leading up to the first lady’s return to the White House on Inauguration Day, focusing on President Trump’s personal and private life. This is the first project created by the former model’s new production company, Muse Films.
The film is also Ratner’s first feature film since 2014’s “Hercules,” following sexual harassment allegations against the creator of “Rush Hour,” but Ratner denied the allegations and no criminal charges were filed against him.
Here’s what our initial review of the film says:
What does the USA TODAY review say?
Initial movie reviews for “Melania” aren’t very positive, with most critics giving it scores between 1 and 1.5 out of 4 or 5 stars.
USA TODAY film critic Brian Truitt said Melania (★ out of 4) doesn’t work well as a documentary because Ratner fails to provide a convincing glimpse into the first lady’s life, instead presenting an extremely unflattering view with little new information. Truitt said there are few moments where Ratner reflects Melania Trump’s personality, such as when she sings Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.”
“Melania is suffering a severe disconnect because she doesn’t speak to the camera,” Truitt wrote. “She talks about respecting the military, but Ratner doesn’t show her conversations with the soldiers. It’s an odd filmmaking choice for a documentary, but it might be by design.”
What are other critics saying about Melania Trump’s movies?
Variety magazine’s review echoed this sentiment, claiming that the documentary “never comes close to being real” and is “so crafted, so airbrushed, so stage-managed that it barely rises to the level of a shameless infomercial.” A review from The Hollywood Reporter said that the film “indulges its subject matter so extravagantly that not gushing about it feels downright unpatriotic.”
“‘Melania’ is a level of bland propaganda that almost resists review; it’s so promising it’s completely pointless,” wrote Kevin Fallon of the Daily Review.
Melanie McDonagh of the London Evening Standard played devil’s advocate in her review, giving the film three stars out of five and urging audiences to keep in mind that what they were showing was directed by the First Lady.
“What we see is what she wants us to see,” McDonough wrote. “If you think of this film as Melania’s carefully chosen interpretation of herself, there’s one thing she wants to convey: there’s a human warmth beneath those cheekbones and cat-like eyes.”
Meanwhile, a review in The Atlantic highlighted that the documentary was ultimately lackluster, quipping, “Ratner seems desperate to find action, but there’s none. The pace is sluggish.”
