Review: The Trotsky
Posted May 14, 2010 2:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
In The Trotsky, Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon, She’s Out of My League) plays Leon Bronstein — a Montreal teenager who happens to believe he is the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. Taking his theory one step further, he attempts to start a real “student union” when his father (portrayed by Saul Rubinek) sends him to public school. Butting heads with the school’s principal (Colm Feore) and finding that the school board doesn’t take him seriously, Leon goes to the media and becomes a local celebrity. Will his demands be met or will Leon go to drastic measures to get what he wants the way Trotsky himself did?
Actor turned writer-director Jacob Tierney has crafted a smart comedy about a unique character. At times you question Leon’s mental state, such as when he’s stalking Alexandra (Emily Hampshire), seemingly because she shares a name with Trotsky’s real wife. At other times you feel for him for believing so ardently in something and the resulting mockery he faces. Let’s put it this way: if John Hughes made Ferris Bueller a Marxist, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off would be The Trotsky.
In my review of She’s Out of My League I said Baruchel was not leading man material and was too “scrawny and awkward to watch for long periods of time.” While I still feel he was miscast in that film he’s found a good role in The Trotsky, and I can’t imagine anyone else doing it better. Maybe that’s because it’s a different part than we’re used to him playing. As with his turn in 2008’s highly underrated Real Time, where he played a gambler in debt being held hostage by a hitman, Barcuhel wowed me and proved what a great young talent he is.
The one issue I had with the film is the risque relationship between Leon and Alexandra. The saving grace is that Hampshire, who until now was not on my radar as someone to watch, brings a down-to-earth feel to the character and shows the struggle someone in her position might have.
While The Trotsky might not be for everyone it is worth checking out.
**** out of 5 stars
Rated 14A
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Emily Hampshire, Colm Feore
Directed by: Jacob Tierney
Official Site IMDb
brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com
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Top image: A scene from The Trotsky. Courtesy Alliance Films.
