Film Review: YOU’VE BEEN TRUMPED (2011)

Writer/Director: Anthony Baxter
Running time: 95 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): PG

Genre: Documentary
UK Release date: 6^th July 2012

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 27^th October 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Donald Trump is an internationally famed entrepreneur who is also a very successful businessman. His vast business empire has made him a billionaire in his native United States and he wants to build a golf resort. He wants to build it on a site of special scientific interest on the Aberdeenshire coast (Scotland). This documentary plots his total disregard for the environment and the local residents in his efforts to achieve his goal. He is not alone in this; despite the local council turning down planning permission on environmental grounds the Scottish Parliament overturned the decision. Trumps claims that what he’s doing will preserve this fragile environment appear (at best) misled as we see the systematic destruction of the dunes and the harassment of local residents.

All this is seen primarily through the eyes of the few local residents that border the resort. He even uses the police to harass the team making this documentary. There is also testimony from environmental groups and even an economist; all indicating that this is a bad thing. It all seems very unbalanced until the end where we learn that neither Trump nor his representatives, the Grampian Police or the Scottish Government wanted to contribute to this film.

I love the way its shot with hand-held cameras and even amateur footage from one of the residents slipped in. There is also some vintage film showing how life was on the coast in days gone by and quite a lot of news footage. The biggest triumph for me though was the use of footage from Bill Forsythe’s film ‘Local Hero’ (my review here). Anthony Baxter cleverly draws parallels between the (fictitious) situation in the film and the situation facing the residents around the site. A real eye-opener into how big business is conducted these days and it’s not pretty. Mr Trump does not come out of this well and, on the evidence shown, deservedly so.

SteelMonster’s verdict: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My score: 8.4/10

IMDb Score: 7.7/10 (based on 528 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1943873/

MetaScore: 57/100: (Based on 12 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 82/100 (based on 28 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 74/100 ‘Want to See’ (based on 1,274 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youve_been_trumped_2011/

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LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.youvebeentrumped.com/youvebeentrumped.com/THE_MOVIE.html
Trailer: