The Trotsky

"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.

I watched "The Trotsky" for Jay Baruchel and I'm not disappointed - his acting is great. He's funny and smart at the same time and he can deliver these qualities in a pretty good way. This is a strong side of that movie but here's a weak one - the scenario is too flat and too overextended.

Idea is pretty simple, movie could be more hilarious and less pretentious but director lost that chance.

There isn't a lot of political stuff because story focused mostly on one guy, his behavior and way of thinking, which is very well-played by Jay Baruchel.

For me, as Russian, all that pseudo-Soviet stuff in the movie is okay however there's just a small bunch of real Soviet artifacts with no any meaning or explanation to watcher and I wonder if they can decode what all these songs or posters or what radio voiceovers mean.

I read some really bad reviews of this movie before going to see it. In the end, I liked it better than I thought I would. However, a lot of the political humour is very basic and wouldn't make sense to people with more than a passing knowledge of communism, activism, etc.

However, as a teen comedy, not to be taken seriously as a political film, it works very well for the most part. A lot of the scenes, acting, and one-liners are quite funny.

Some of the acting done by secondary characters is not really up to par. Even Leon's character or that of his co-stars (his parents, principal, would-be wife, etc.) tend to be one-dimensional. I think this film could have been improved by occasional moments of self-reflection or doubt. As it is, Leon's character tends to come across as a quirky cartoon a lot of the time.

Still, as a light form of amusement, it works quite well.

I went to see the film with no preconceived notions, having read no reviews and seen no previews, other than the one-liner in the newspaper.

I laughed very often during this hour and a half, in a good sense. Maybe it's because I'm an iconoclast, and I love political conversations in general but I thoroughly enjoyed the film, from the very first moment to the very end.

Youth today are often accused of being apathetic and this is a recurring theme here. Other than the fact that the main character seems a bit loopy, he remains adorable and not cartoonish as the other commentator posted.

On comparing this teenage flic with others, as a mature adult, I must say I liked this 10x more than even the best teenage flics, save one or two, such as Juno. The director refrains from delving TOO deeply in politics and drama, BECAUSE it's a teen flic. IMO the exact right amount of political insight was included.

Other than the main character, we get to see a distinct progression in the students' level of interest and involvement in their own destinies. This, even more than apathy, may be our society's greatest challenge, to allow youth to take part in the political game, in order that youth may sense that there IS hope for our future.

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.