Review: Brett Ratner’s “Melania” Documentary Falls Flat Despite High-Profile Subject

In what may be one of the most expensive political vanity projects in recent memory, Brett Ratner’s documentary “Melania” has arrived in theaters with little fanfare but considerable financial backing. The film, which reportedly cost Amazon MGM $40 million for distribution rights plus another $35 million in marketing, offers an underwhelming glimpse into the life of former and current First Lady Melania Trump.

The documentary, produced with Mrs. Trump’s full cooperation, follows her through various engagements as she prepares for her husband’s 2025 inauguration. Despite the unprecedented access, the 104-minute film delivers few meaningful insights into its subject, instead presenting a carefully curated, emotionally distant portrait that feels more like propaganda than documentary.

One of the film’s few memorable moments comes near its conclusion. As Donald and Melania Trump walk through a decorated section of Washington DC on inauguration day, The Crystals’ “Then He Kissed Me” plays in the background – the same song famously used in Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas” during Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco’s iconic Copacabana Club entrance. The parallel seems unintentional, highlighting the documentary’s complete lack of self-awareness or irony.

In early scenes focused on fashion preparation, Melania displays genuine knowledge and earns respect from designers and stylists. However, the film quickly devolves into a parade of stilted diplomatic encounters. We witness Melania discussing foster children with French First Lady Brigitte Macron, offering an awkward hug to a released Israeli hostage, and providing a monotonous voiceover during former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral that focuses primarily on her own mother’s death.

The documentary provides scant insight into the Trump marriage. In their few on-camera interactions, Donald Trump speaks to Melania much as he would to the press corps, boasting about his 2024 electoral victory: “Bigger than anticipated!”

Director Ratner, known primarily for the “Rush Hour” action franchise, seems uninterested in challenging his subject or providing context. The resulting film achieves a strange passive distance – not unlike pointing a camera at a waterfall for two hours. Tony Neiman’s pleasant musical score further contributes to the documentary’s meditative, almost soporific quality.

The documentary’s theatrical release strategy has also raised eyebrows in the industry. Without traditional press screenings, journalists have reportedly been purchasing tickets to review the film, with one screening in media-centric Islington, London, filled with “notepad-wielding journalists.”

Occasionally, the documentary jolts viewers with reminders of the administration’s controversial nature. In one scene, Trump rehearses his inauguration speech, experimenting with the phrase “peacemaker and unifier” – words that land particularly hollow against the backdrop of recent political violence in Minnesota.

The film concludes with multiple screens listing Mrs. Trump’s supposed achievements as First Lady, ending with what feels like an attempt at brainwashing reminiscent of John Frankenheimer’s “The Manchurian Candidate.” The message seems clear: “Melania Trump is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”

For a documentary with such unprecedented access to a controversial political figure, “Melania” offers remarkably little substance. Neither flattering nor critical, it exists in a strange limbo of expensive mediocrity – a $75 million investment that may go down as one of the film industry’s most puzzling financial decisions of 2025.

Now playing in over 3,000 theaters nationwide, “Melania” speaks volumes about political image-making in contemporary America, though perhaps not in the way its producers intended.