Watch The Trotsky For Free

Just perfect...

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The Trotsky (2009) is a Canadian film that was written and directed by Jacob Tierney. It stars Jay Baruchel as Leon Bronstein, a teenager growing up in an affluent neighborhood in English-speaking Montreal. Leon believes that he is the reincarnation of the Russian revolutionary leader Leon Trotsky. (Bronstein was Trotsky's real name.)After trying to organize a union in his father's factory, Leon is not only fired, but he now will have to enter public school, rather than the private school he has been attending. In his new school, Leon first encounters Mrs. Davis, who appears to be a dean. She's played by the late Domini Blythe, a brilliant classical actor. In this role, Blythe plays the most satanic dean in any high school anywhere. Henry Berkhoff, the most satanic school principal, is played by another great actor--Colm Feore.With the two of them standing shoulder-to-shoulder, the students don't have a chance. At least, they didn't have a chance until Leon Bronstein arrives. Using skilled organizing techniques, Bronstein is able to turn the students into a significant presence, which the school cannot ignore. (Especially when the TV cameras arrive.)There's also a ridiculous romance between Leon and an older woman. The less said about that, the better. Just ignore that, and some other false starts, and enjoy Bronstein's fearless actions, as he tries to give the students a sense of their own dignity, and an opportunity to make their school better.We saw this movie on the large screen at the wonderful Dryden Theatre in the Eastman Museum in Rochester. It was shown as part of the excellent Rochester Labor Film Series. The movie will work equally well on the small screen

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.

I loved 'The Trotsky' it is the kind of teen comedy we seldom get, one that acknowledges the hardships of being a teenager but that is also very funny and intelligent. Teens aren't stupid and it seems that many screenwriters think they are. 'The Trotsky' is as much a story about adolescences as it is about teenage brand Bolshevism.Leon Bronstein believes he is the reincarnation of the great hero of the October Revolution Leon Trotsky. I'm sold. It's a brilliant premise and it's execution is seamless. Director Jacob Tierney asks the audience to take a leap of faith. Leon is so convinced of his lineage that he pursues a woman named Alexandra who is ten years older than him because Trotsky did so. This relationship is tricky but I think what makes it work is Jay Baruchel's utmost commitment to the role. He does appear very childlike and this is essential to the brilliance of the story. The teen years are hard and in his uncertainty he turns to Trotsky, the brilliant hero of Bolshevism who was bold and conquered history. Bronstein is questioned about the unsavory details of Trotsky's life such as his infamous murder with the 'ice pick'. The way Baruchel responds is so brilliant, he thinks of Trotsky's life as an adventure which he gets to live through. The way Baruchel delivers this line is funny, uplifting, and even a little sweet. Bronstein wants the whole package; even to the point where he asks a classmate if he is "my Stalin". By all means Leon Bronstein is the kind of character we would expect to be beaten up by cliché jocks but the approach by both Tierney and Baruchel is to create a character driven by passion. Bronstein believes he is Trotsky to the point where others are dragged into his fantasy and I think this satisfies some of the more questionable elements of the script.Not knowing about the Russian Revolution will not hurt your appreciation of the film but it is much funnier if you have some idea about what went down. Tierney has done his homework and the film can become a great inside joke for anyone the least bit familiar with Soviet history.

Leon Bronstein is a young man who thinks he's the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky and he lives his life according to the way Trotsky lived by using his life as blueprint. Along the way he annoys his parents (he calls his dad a fascist) and takes on his school. Along the way he falls in love with an older woman, reawakens the drive of a radical lawyer and sparks his fellow schoolmates to get involved.I saw this on the Tribeca Pay per view service. I was amused, and slightly disappointed. Its has some good performances, some great dialog and very strong sense of self. The trouble is that the film as a whole is very much like the main character, insisting on following a redetermined course as closely as possible. Yes there are small bits that break the mold, but for the most part the film follows a formula its already worked out. I hated that I could guess where it was going, it took the edge off the spontaneity.Its a good film but I wanted to like it more. Its one of those really good films that just misses being great and ends up being disappointing.Worth a look see on cable or as a rental.(A side note the film follows points of Trotsky's life so much that part of me kept wondering if this was going to end as Trotsky did, however this is a feel good film and that was never going to happen)