dave s
Leon, a 17-year-old Montrealer, believes that he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky. After failing to establish a union at his father's business, he decides to unionize the students at his high school, who he believes are being oppressed by the ‘fascist' administration. Jay Baruchel steals the show as the wanna-be militant revolutionary, so much so that the film lags significantly when he's not on the screen. Does the film run too long? Check. Does the final confrontation seem improbable? Check. Are the romantic entanglements implausible…and creepy? Check. Despite all of that, it contains a bunch of laughs, very likeable characters, clever (and well researched) writing, and a truly original idea for a coming-of-age story, refreshing in this day and age.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Go wash your car 7 times. It's a better waste of time than this movie.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
kevin c
Jay Baruchel plays a high school student who believes he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky and leads his schoolmates into revolt with ideals of starting a union for students.
Smartly written and capably performed by Baruchel.
Excellent support cast with Colm Feore, Saul Rubinek and one of my favourites Emily Hampshire.
Great mix of drama and comedy.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
John B
The Trotsky is propaganda to promote socialism and rebel against liberty. The Trotsky is trashes the American way of life. Hollywood has lost its patriotism. This movie is treason of the highest order.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
01/05/21
Full Review
Audience Member
I was that kid in high school...well, not to the degree portrayed. But, I ran an underground newspaper, got busted, fought the establishment authoritarians, beat the power multiple times, and fomented a strike (the strike did not happen, but I tried). Anyway, this movie is AWESOME. Better than Pump Up the Volume by a long shot...a true gutsy movie about teenage angst, power against the establishment, and really, really adorable romantic love and comraderie/comradery. 5 Stars Awesome. Find it on Netflix or ThePeacock.com.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Watching The Trotsky, I didn't know quite what to expect. I knew it was a comedy, and I knew it was going to heavily reference Communist history. Other than that, I had no idea what I was about to watch. But, in these times especially, a film we go blind into may be just what we need for something refreshing. I'll start off with what's great in this movie, the script. Clearly, the writers of this movie did plenty of research and had a very good grasp on how films are structured. The beats of the film are at necessary points, the comedy is good, and each of the characters are well written with clear arcs. But, at least for me, that's where the great things about this movie. Don't get me wrong when I say that, everything in this movie is fine, but given how good the script is, I feel that it deserved more. Starting my complaints would be the look of The Trotsky. Due to the history behind this, it feels that they should have been much more creative with the colour pallet, using a lot of red, because, you know, Russia. Instead, someone thought it was a good idea to completely wash out the film of colour. And, no, this isn't the whole "artistic black and white," rather, there is colour, but it's all just really bland. I should also note that although they got some fairly good actors in this, a lot of the chemistry, and even the way that dialogue was read, was off. Those are the things that I hated about this film. But, there's definitely a lot of mediocre as well. For example, the score is mediocre. At times, the score will come in with an epic Russian choir, but soon, it's dried out by stereotypical teen pop music in the background, which was also a disappointing problem. Also, there were a few shots that, clearly, the director had fun with. For example, there's one scene where everyone's coming into the Social Justice Dance, and the principal gets mad, because he's the principal. As he turns his head, the shot compares him to a dictator, which was a brilliant and creative shot that I wish this film had done more. So, while I praise the script and a lot of its brilliance, the rest of the film is kind of mediocre at best. There is so much to love in this movie, but a lot more is lacking.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/16/23
Full Review
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