Watching The Trotsky, one can see a couple of serious stars rising over the Canadian film landscape. With his second feature, actor-cum-director Jacob Tierney shows us the cool confidence of a seasoned director, taking on the task of creating a fun, lively comedy – and actually succeeding at it.
The Trotsky is a quirky one, with a completely silly premise. A young man is convinced he is the reincarnation of iconic commie Leon Trotsky. Tierney has said that he originally conceived of the film as a drama, with students rebelling over the lack of left-leaning writing in their curriculum. He dusted off the script a few years ago and realized that his teen dream was so loony it could only work as a comedy.
This fits in nicely with Telefilm’s more recent mission of genre diversity. The goal apparently is to prove that Canadian filmmakers can make films about things other than depressed suicidal people drowning in lakes. Canadians aren’t that depressed, goes the thinking. It’s just that most of our filmmakers are.
The other rising star, of course, is Jay Baruchel, who has appeared in a number of big Hollywood films in promising supporting roles (Million Dollar Baby and Tropic Thunder most notably). He’s a frenetic actor, intensely mannered, and here Tierney uses him to great effect. Comedies rely on ludicrous conceits, but they still demand a degree of suspension of disbelief – and Baruchel actually makes you believe he believes he’s Trotsky. It helps that he goes on national television, namely eTalk Daily – interviewed by Ben Mulroney in a hilarious cameo – to discuss his belief that he’s the Trotsky.
Baruchel is flanked by an all-star cast – and that in itself says something about the road Canadian cinema is on, given that not so long ago conventional wisdom had it that we’d never have a star system. In Tierney’s casting, Colm Feore is the nasty principal, Genevieve Bujold a government administrator, and Saul Rubinek a disconcerted capitalist father.
The Trotsky works precisely because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. If there is a flaw, it’s that there is perhaps one too many endings. Closure is always difficult in film (Steven Spielberg is still struggling with the dilemma), but in comedy it’s especially challenging. Ultimately, this is a minor criticism. The Trotsky does what it sets out to do: it makes us laugh. And it must be said: there’s something very refreshing about seeing so much big-screen lefty bravado at the very moment Canada is being run by a minority government that looks like the cast of Hee-Haw. The left just seems so much more appealing, even when it’s delusional.
Matthew Hays is a Montreal-based writer who contributes to the Montreal Mirror, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian and The Daily Beast. Look for his forthcoming blog, to launch on Rover Arts in the coming weeks.
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Just wondering if there are any icepick jokes in the movie.