Despite a great many pre-release jokes about empty auditoriums, the new documentary Melania actually performed decently at the box office, as these things go. The purported all-access ride-along with Melania Trump in preparation for President Donald Trump’s second inauguration was probably not worth the reported $75 million that Amazon MGM spent on it, outbidding offers from other companies like Disney and Paramount. The film will not turn a profit, and $28 million of that purchase price goes directly to the first lady, but it wasn’t the full belly flop many were expecting, at least from a financial point of view. But as a work of art—or even an effective piece of persuasive propaganda? Well, that’s another story.

This peculiar project devotes a great deal of its running time bearing witness to Melania Trump trying on clothing, approving invitations, and clomping around in high-heeled boots as she is escorted to and from the 66th floor of Trump Tower to the soundtrack of decades-old radio hits like The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” At the AMC multiplex I went to in Freehold, New Jersey, the demographic skewed older and, perhaps not surprisingly when you think about it, female. So if the hope was that Melania would offer style tips for a certain kind of aspirational viewer, I suppose it was a success.

Despite a great many pre-release jokes about empty auditoriums, the new documentary Melania actually performed decently at the box office, as these things go. The purported all-access ride-along with Melania Trump in preparation for President Donald Trump’s second inauguration was probably not worth the reported $75 million that Amazon MGM spent on it, outbidding offers from other companies like Disney and Paramount. The film will not turn a profit, and $28 million of that purchase price goes directly to the first lady, but it wasn’t the full belly flop many were expecting, at least from a financial point of view. But as a work of art—or even an effective piece of persuasive propaganda? Well, that’s another story.

This peculiar project devotes a great deal of its running time bearing witness to Melania Trump trying on clothing, approving invitations, and clomping around in high-heeled boots as she is escorted to and from the 66th floor of Trump Tower to the soundtrack of decades-old radio hits like The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” At the AMC multiplex I went to in Freehold, New Jersey, the demographic skewed older and, perhaps not surprisingly when you think about it, female. So if the hope was that Melania would offer style........

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