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 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.

An important film, the question are you inactive through boredom or apathy is central to the plot though the theme is easier for me to understand as, wait for things to happen or control your life. It is important for people to take a active part in life and in this film Leon Bronstein finds the students letting fate do as it may with them and gets them to take a hand in their lives and the world around them. This theme appears everywhere in life and this film helps clarify it by showing how you can change things and why you should do so. This theme appears in psychology, be responsible for what happens to you, for example, also a woman from Africa, talking on CNN, said, you must not wait for things to happen but make them happen, a message women, more given to accepting their lot, need to hear. The film also links getting the students to take an active role at school to sexual abuse at schools, another important topic, the hero says that, had sexually abused children had a student union they could have stopped the abuse. Even in school people are in danger. The theme of bullying in school and abuse is very big just now and Bronstein does face and defeat bullying not by saying things will get better, which is wishful thinking but by effective and complicated action, which I judge to be a more real way to deal with things. rose macaskie

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.

The Trotsky is a teen-comedy with a hint of Goodbye Lenin's political satire and Charlie Bartlett's humour/plot. Although some of the acting seems mediocre, I enjoyed the film.

You don't need to understand the biography of Leon Trotsky, it explains it in a subtle way that is enough to enjoy the film, but doing research beforehand might be a decent idea.

Don't take this film too seriously, just enjoy it for what it is. It isn't like a normal film, it's sort of a modern teen-comedy about revolting against injustice, although the injustice is rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Well-done, worth watching, but only if you have an open mind and enjoy quirky films about adolescent injustice.