The Trotsky

Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) is a gawky teen who idolizes Leon Trotsky and wants to unionize his father (Saul Rubinek)'s business. He hounds leftist lawyer Frank McGovern (Michael Murphy) unless he agrees to help. He meets older woman Alexandra Leith (Emily Hampshire). He is convinced that he is the reincarnation of Trotsky and she is Leon's first wife Aleksandra. Mocking his Trotsky reincarnation, his father takes him out of boarding school and put into a Montreal public high school. Principal Berkhoff (Colm Feore) runs a tight ship and they soon become adversaries. Leon needs to find his Lenin and joins the student union. He finds fascism in detention and tries to unionize his high school.

This is chalk full of charm. It's very cute with the awkward Jay Baruchel. He is adorably delusional. He's never annoying even though his character is stubbornly uncompromising. It could use a more comedic touch with the writing. The socialist references may go over most of the general public and it's not wacky enough for one of those crude teen comedies. It doesn't really fall into an easy category and it doesn't help that it is so laden with Canadiana. When it does go into wacky territories, it doesn't really do it in a LOL fashion. However its heart is in the right place and like Alexandra, one can't avoid the Leon storm and accept his insanity.

"It's over. I'm not it. I'm not the man for the job."

The Trotsky came out of absolutely nowhere. I don't even know how it appeared on my radar, but I'm glad that it did. It's quite the little gem. 

It's the story of a teenager (named Leon) from Montreal who believes he is the reincarnation of the Marxist leader Leon Trotsky, and believes that his life will follow that of his predecessor exactly. Right down to exile, relationships, and even cause of death. He finds his "great cause" in the plight of the students at the public high school that his father sends him too, and puts all his energy into forming a union for them.

I found myself getting swept up into Leon's struggle against youth apathy very quickly, because he's such a likable character. Jay Baruchel plays him with his typical neurotic performance, but it works. You don't know how seriously to take him at first, but Leon believes so deeply in who he claims to be and what he's doing, that it's easy to let your disbelief go and just roll with it all. All the characters are pretty great, actually, and most of my enjoyment of the movie came from their interactions with each other.

So yeah, I'm recommending The Trotsky wholeheartedly. Don't immediately write it off if you have no idea who Leon Trotsky is. It's just a very likable comedy, and it puts a fresh spin on the "high school movie". I enjoyed it.

There are very few movies which would make your day better. The Trotsky is one of them. I believe it is criminally underrated and deserves a better rating.

It is very well thought, very well written and has a decent third act, which justifies the running time. I was laughing and rolling over, when the reference to 'Battleship Potemkin' came on the screen. And there is even a 'Wrath of Khan' reference to.

References aside, this movie doesn't glorifies or nullifies Trotskyism. Jay Baruchel really did a splendid job by bringing out that angry high school kid, who needs an outlet to speak out.

This is a very sweet movie and should be never missed. I wish I saw when it was in theaters.

Boredom and Apathy - that is what this movie is all about. (In my opinion)

The lead character Leon and his Trotsky obsession are actually symbolic of leadership. Trotsky dealt with apathy and boredom but found his means to manifest the phenomena of the Russian revolution. Leon must deal with apathy and boredom but will he become a leader?

The Odessa Steps dream sequences are a delightful and comical look into Leons head. The movie is worth seeing just for this!

I greatly enjoyed the skillful performances from each character. Their dialog is top notch and the director pulls this 'Trotsky' idea together nicely.

What is the fate of Leon - we will never know.

I enjoyed The Trotsky, most of it anyway. I liked the fact that it doesn't take its audience as complete illiterate and assumes that you would catch some of the historic references. I prefer that than having everything spelled out for me. Jay Baruchel is just creepy enough, without becoming really scary in his obsession with being the real Leon Trotsky. I was rather uncomfortable with the relationship with Alexandra; that was one of the drawbacks of the movie. I loved the portrayal of Montreal with the English and the French intermingling in conversation and everyday life - even if it's not at all the main point of the movie. My main critic would go to Geneviève Bujold, who plays a commissioner of the school board, or something like that. I don't think I've ever seen such overacting before. She was awful. I always heard people say how she was a great actress, well, I did not see that here. I could not stop thinking how bad she was every time she was opening her mouth. Even every gesture she was making was over the top. Anyways, she doesn't have a huge role, so it didn't really spoil the movie. All in all, I enjoyed it and I would see it again.