The Last Station: An Early Review
November 10th, 2009

If you are looking for a grand biopic on renowned literary giant Leo Tolstoy, keep looking. If you are in the mood for a well-acted, often humorous story about love, devotion, and ideology at odds with each other - that happens to feature Leo Tolstoy - look no further: "The Last Station" is the film for you. At the heart of "The Last Station" is a story about husband and wife. Towards the end of his life, Tolstoy is still hard at work - writing and discussing his ideology. Much to the chagrin of his wife, the Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren), his politics and philosophy have become radically focused on social equality with threatening notions of giving away their estate and luxurious way of life. At the center of it all are the rights to Tolstoy's literary catalog as currently appointed to his wife in his will. Tolstoy's followers however - calling themselves Tolstoyans, led by close friend Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) - have taken it upon themselves to see to it that Tolstoy change the will and leave his works to its rightful owners - the Russian people. In the middle of this domestic dispute is Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy). A devout Tolstoyan himself, Valentin is hired by Chertkov as Tolstoy's secretarial assistant and to keep an eye on his wife Sofya. Just as Valentin is finding it more and more difficult to adhere to some of the tenets of Tolstoy's philosophy, particularly celibacy, with a budding relationship of his own, he finds himself torn between his loyalty to his idol and employer and his quickly evolving views on love and devotion. Although the film is fairly light, infused all throughout with a great deal of humor, and can be melodramatic - mostly due to the "drama queen" nature of Sofya as played marvelously by Helen Mirren - it does present this rich and ultimately heartbreaking story about a married couple who, though together for nearly half a century, seem to have grown apart as compatible partners. Tolstoy wants to abandon his estate and focus on his writing and philosophy. Sofya wants her husband back. She is at odds with his idealistic notions of society and especially fed up with the Tolstoyan disciples who follow them and record the author's every uttered word. Her dramatic antics don't help the matter (though they provide for some great comedy), but is she justified in claiming custody of her husband's legacy (which also served as a big part of her own life) or is she being selfish for wanting to keep him for herself and leave his life's work within the family? The film does an excellent job at portraying and balancing this question. Great pacing, a humorous script, and all-around impressive performances help make "The Last Station" an enjoyable treat. Both Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren are perfectly matched for these roles. Although the meatier role is Mirren's - and boy does she knock it out of the park - Plummer is fantastic as a living legend torn between his love for his wife and devotion to his cause. James McAvoy and Paul Giamatti (along with Kerry Condon and Anne-Marie duff who play Valentin's love interest and Tolstoy's daughter, respectively) round out the principle cast who all work hard and succeed in keeping up with the two veteran actors. In Awards Words… It's going to be easy for "The Last Station" to get lost in the shuffle, especially since it does not seem to have a particular box-office draw. Though with two veterans like Plummer and Mirren headlining, it should stay visible, even with the December behemoths approaching. Unfortunately, as charming as I found it, I'm having a hard time seeing the movie breaking out and grabbing enough passionate followers to make the top ten. With still so many question marks this late in the game, anything is possible; but I'm not betting on "The Last Station" becoming a big player. Its best bets are probably Helen Mirren for Best Actress and Plummer of Supporting Actor. Both categories seem weak enough at this point to call these near locks. Mirren may have to fend off a few youngsters (who she probably surpasses in combined age) but I have a hard time seeing the Academy ignore this showy performance. All other categories, including most of the techies and adapted screenplay already look too crowded for a film with limited strength and weight (read: Oscar friendly crew) to break in. A note about potential category fraud: After seeing the film, it does feel like Plummer's role is supporting to McAvoy's lead. Helen Mirren's role is a bit more ambiguous but given her screen time and prominence in the plot, I'd put her in lead as well. So, in my opinion, there's no category fraud going on here.

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