Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) is not your average Montreal West high school student. For one thing, none of his peers can claim to be the reincarnation of early 20th century Soviet iconoclast and Red Army hero, Leon Trotsky. When his father (Saul Rubinek) sends Leon to public school as punishment for starting a hunger strike at Papa's clothing factory, Leon quickly lends new meaning to the term "student union," determined as he is to live out his pre-ordained destiny to the fullest and change the world.

But will our young hero ever inspire his fellow students to care about anything? Will he ever convince the beautiful, and significantly older (nine years older to be exact, just like Trotsky's first wife) Alexandra that she won't be charged with statutory rape if they become engaged? And will he ever find his Lenin?

While every life may well be filled with obstacles, Leon's are not only of his own making but his actual fate, as he tells us at every opportunity. In the end, "The Trotsky" may well lay leftie claim to the notion that the revolution DOES begin in high school... but if the left had been this funny, who knows, maybe we would still have one.