Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) thinks his life bears more than just a coincidental resemblance to the socialist leader Leon Trotsky. After reading Trotsky’s autobiography My Life, Bronstein determines that is, in fact, the reincarnation of Trotsky and believes that his life will mirror his own. He will marry young, start a revolution, be betrayed and then eventually assassinated. Comedies don’t get much more high concept than this, and despite a spirited performance by Baruchel, “The Trotsky” isn’t quite the revolutionary comedy it wants to be.
After a very clunky opening twenty to thirty minutes establishing the premise, “The Trotsky” settles into a film that pretty much owes its shape the second half of “Rushmore,” when Max Fischer enrolls in public school. Bronstein suffers the same fate when, after trying to organize a union for the workers at his father’s factory, he father matches his son’s vigor for the common man and pulls him out of private school and sends him to a public high school. The horror!
At first, Bronstein is a strange fit for the school but, he soon finds a new adversaries in Principal Berkhoff (a delicious evil Colm Feore) and a teacher Ms. Davis (Domini Blythe). Bronstein engages the (tiny) student council (Tiio Horn and Ricky Mabe) and decides that he is going to unionize the students to give them a collective voice. In the midst of all this, Bronstein slowly develops a relationship with former activist lawyer Frank McGovern (Michael Murphy) who he tries to engage to help sue his father all while wooing Alexandra Leith (Emily Hampshire) who he believe is his future wife (because like Trotsky’s first wife Aleksandra Sokolovskaya, she doesn’t like him at first and is ten years older than him). And yes, there is a lot going on in this movie.
As the film builds, writer/director Jacob Tierney tries to turn “The Trotsky” into yet another rousing high school comedy where the kids stick it to the adults but, it never quite works. The high concept of the film continually gets in the way of its own momentum as do the myriad of sub-sub-sub plots and relationships that dangle like distracting loose threads. Among the many things left unexplained or unexplored are Bronstein’s contentious relationship with his more successful older brother; the significance of Bronstein’s shiksa stepmom which is briefly touched upon and then never mentioned again; Alexandra’s ex-bf who gets a couple pointless scenes (frankly, he could’ve been written right out of the script) and Alexandra’s relationship with her best friend Laura (played by the staggeringly beautiful Jessica Paré) who comes in for a couple scenes but never seems the confidante that Alexandra requires.
The other sticking point for the film is, sadly, its very Canadian tone. This is somthing this writer has touched upon before and, as a Canadian, feels often hampers homegrown productions from resonating elsewhere. “The Trotsky” is loaded with a lot jokey Canadian and even Montreal specific (where this writer is located and where the movie is set) jokes that will make Canadians groan and go right over everyone else’s head. If you’ve been waiting for jokes about Margaret Trudeau, the West Island and the differences between Ontario and Quebec then perhaps this movie is for you, but the film practically stops dead when it gives way to extended segment with “E-Talk” host Ben Mulroney (the Canadian equivalent of Ryan Seacrest with far less charisma). Add all of this to a film that runs a painfully long two hours, and you have a project could’ve definitely used tightening up and another pass at the script.
With all that said, there is still a lot that works with the film. Jay Baruchel, as we mentioned before, is pitch perfect here. Even though he’s once again working in a film that is below his talents (seriously, he is a need of a great script for a lead role; Judd Apatow where are you?), he makes the film worth watching. The film also features a much stronger second half, and when Bronstein finally decides to take drastic measures (which we won’t spoil here) to get the student body their union, the film does become quite engaging. Plus extra points for a mainstream comedy making pointed references to “Battleship Potemkin,” “Norma Rae” and Ken Loach’s “Land & Freedom.” That doesn’t happy very often (or at all).
As you can guess, “The Trotsky” is simply uneven. For every moment where the film truly seems to be moving forward, it becomes distracted and amateur. Despite a better second half, the film doesn’t quite earn the late stage emotional changes in its characters that occur to tie up the plot (and in fact, we haven’t even mentioned Bronstein’s relationship to his father which suddenly comes into play at the end; again, this film is overstuffed to bursting). We also haven’t yet commented the score by Francophone indie rockers Malajube largely because its distinctly unremarkable, playing to the standard tropes of pop/rock scores. Tierney certainly seems to hope there will be more adventures for Leon Bronstein as he leaves the door open for a sequel, but one revolution is certainly more than enough. [C]
–Written by Kevin Jagernauth
