From the Wall Street Journal
Full Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203440104574404672369047680.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Literary legends come to life in Michael Hoffman's "The Last Station," an evocation of Tolstoy's last months on earth, and Jane Campion's "Bright Star," which dramatizes the unconsummated passion between the Romantic poet John Keats and his shy young neighbor Fanny Brawne-she's played by Abbie Cornish. The latter film opens next week, so, here again, I'll confine myself to saying that Ms. Cornish makes the star of the title, and of Keats's lyric poem, truly luminous.

Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren in 'The Last Station.'

"The Last Station," on the other hand, doesn't have a distributor, or didn't have one near festival's end. That situation should be remedied forthwith. Far from some lofty denizen of Masterpiece Theater, the Tolstoy portrayed by Christopher Plummer is a richly human creation as well as a huge one, and Helen Mirren adds one more marvelous performance to her filmography as Sofya, Tolstoy's wife of 48 years. When Mr. Hoffman introduced the film, he felt it necessary to tell the audience that if anything struck them as funny they should feel free to laugh. Good advice, albeit gratuitous. The greatest pleasure of "The Last Station" is its combination of complexity and the antic verve that the director brought to the 1991 "Soapdish," a scintillating farce about soap operas.

Another Review:

Telluride by the Sea to again leave its cinematic mark on the Seacoast Sept. 18-20

By Ryan Alan
Contributing Writer
Thursday, September 10, 2009

Patricia Lynch, executive director of the Music Hall adds: "My insider's tip is don't miss the documentaries! They can be profoundly moving, informative and open us to experiences that can change the way we see the world."

The stars are aligned in the world of Telluride by the Sea this year. "There are many big names," said Curtis. "When they are the caliber that they are this year, ears certainly pick up. As one friend of The Music Hall said earlier this year, 'I would listen to Helen Mirren read from the phone book!'

She is Sofya in "The Last Station," a comic-dramatic account of Tolstoy's final months, in which she portrays the writer's wife of 48 years and the mother of his 13 children. Christopher Plummer is Tolstoy.

James McAvoy plays his secretary who becomes the comic foil between two formidable opponents scheming for control of Tolstoy's estate: Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) and Mirren, whose Sofya proves her dedication by copying, by hand, War and Peace six times.


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Edited 2 times by stateside Sep 11 09 7:42 PM.