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Dec 6 09 9:36 AM
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Dec 6 09 10:59 PM
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Dec 7 09 2:00 AM
I'm back from a long day in NYC and will be writing up my review. I want to say that I totally enjoyed it.-------------------------------------- I'll be careful of spoilers here :-) I'm exhausted and probably will come back tomorrow to edit....
The Angelika Theater is a smaller venue and the area was quiet. There was ONE small poster for TLS and I was a bit surprised that there was not more information promoting the film with "Limited Release". "Invictus", "A Single Man", "Coco Before Chanel" all which are "now playing" have more space and promotion. Though I do realize it is just being shown in theaters to qualify for the Oscars, it would be nice to see it have $$$ at the box office J
We attended the 11:00 am showing. There were only about 40 people in the Theater to see TLS. No doubt because it was early, Sunday and during the height of Holiday Shopping.
Let me begin with this; I had my doubts that my husband would like this film at all. In all the years we have been married he has taken me to ONE movie, he rarely can sit still long enough to eat dinner never mind sitting in a movie theater.
However, in the beginning of the film when Valentin meets Tolstoy and they sit on the couch, Tolstoy asks Valentin how his essays are coming along because he's been following his work. My husband who has never watched any of James movies, nor have I ever discussed his talent with him..... elbowed me and said "Whoa this guy is good - you can really feel and believe how he's feeling".
I loved this scene and apparently so did my husband. He became totally engaged. Hence, I not only agree with Lumna, I will quote her…..
It's definitely not in the dialogue. It's in the face, the body language, the tilt of the head, the movement or rather none movement. If you are truly willing to fully engage, you'll be like the fly on the wall, except you'll get to feel the turmoil, angst, joy, happiness, melancholy, all of the emotions from A to Z.
The power house cast alone makes it worth seeing. No matter which members of the cast are in a scene, they each are so rich in their character portrayal, it is at times difficult to say "who you liked best". Which IMHO is a great thing.
In the end…..ALL characters will have had their way with your feelings and emotions.
Lead Roles…..
Helen Mirren is just impeccable. She is a devoted wife, full of life and love for her husband and her family. I can agree with the reviewers, she really does deserve a nomination for Best Actress and is indeed deserving of being a top contender.
Christopher Plummer….well, he should be up for Lead Actor come Oscar time. I really think he stands a much better chance with those who are being buzzed up, than James. He and Mirren together….you see and feel and understand the pain, conflict and love between them. He plays this role so naturally. Plummer and Mirren are so believable as being a couple who have been married for over 45 years.
James McAvoy…..I'm on the fence here with this performance being his best.
A.O. Scott's comment on James' performance "Mr. McAvoy does what he usually does, which is mime wet-eyed, stricken, lovable innocence, but this time in a more Russian way than he has before."
Though I do not agree 100% with this, there were some emotions, movements, tilts….that were familiar to me. Right from the beginning….so I can only think that Scott, picked up on that also and dismissed really watching the rest of his performance. If that not be the case, then Scott should realize that this role was exactly that of a young man coming of age and learning / experiencing love for the first time.
I really liked this role and really feel James was excellent and quite brilliant at times. I cannot say just which parts/scenes were my favorites really. They were all that good. I could tell you in each scene what I really enjoyed, but I cannot really pick just one as my favorite. James does have the most screen time, so yes, he in that sense, the Lead Actor. However, I do think his chances would be better in the Supporting Role category. For several reasons Plummer's role will have more impact on people - his age, his experience, and the role itself.
Supporting Roles….
Anne Marie Duff - holds her own and does not get lost what so ever. The combination of Mirren and Duff and their scenes depict the importance of the relationship between father and daughter. You know Sasha loves, adores and believes in her father's movement. AMD has her own way of conveying that herself with her limited screen time.
Paul Giamatti - I felt he was excellent in what his role called for him to be. He truly believes in the movement and will do whatever he has to do to secure it. He makes you dislike him and makes it much easier for one to side with Mirren's character. It also makes you understand why Mirren's character goes to the extremes she does.
Kerry Condon - why no one is talking more about her I have no idea. She IMHO, shined here and played off James beautifully. You could see and totally understand just why Valentin was so taken with her. Their progression in their relationship is believable, loving, tender and yes, even funny at times. The chopping wood scene was cute as was the seduction scene - funny actually.
Dec 7 09 1:49 PM
Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren as the Tolstoys in Michael Hoffman's movie.
The year is 1910, and Tolstoy is an uneasy survivor in the new century-he's bemused by a phonograph playing in his garden at Yasnaya Polyana. (A fine old house in Germany doubles as the estate.) As he approaches death, he and Sofya fight over his will. Shall he leave the vastly profitable copyrights of his worldly masterpieces to his wife and their children? Or shall he bequeath them to the "Russian people," to be administered by an organization that propagates his late-in-life obsessions-a cultish neo-Christian, neo-socialist religion that runs communes, advocates passive resistance to violence, and renounces sexuality? Sofya's nemesis in the struggle is Tolstoy's chief disciple and administrator, the fanatical Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who introduces into the estate a youthful spy, Valentin (James McAvoy), a celibate and an avowed Tolstoyan, who becomes the writer's secretary. He's so awed that he can barely get a word out when he and Tolstoy first meet, but his disapproval of the flesh disappears overnight after Masha (Kerry Condon), a terrifically flirtatious and intelligent fellow-acolyte, climbs into his bed. Hoffman makes the scenes between the young lovers genuinely erotic, so it's not hard to guess which side the movie chooses in the philosophical dispute between asceticism and sensuality. Hoffman doesn't parody Tolstoy's religious and pedagogical beliefs, which, after all, exerted a major influence on Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., yet the movie implicitly suggests that exalted, self-denying spirituality, however noble, is less powerful as a guide to living than everyday love. Tolstoy, no fanatic in his own cause, seems to know this. In a beautifully written scene, played with wistful longing by Plummer, the old man, talking to Valentin as they sit together in the forest at Yasnaya Polyana, describes the early years of his marriage as a kind of terrifying paradise.
Hoffman's career has wandered all over the place-he made the uproarious pop comedy "Soapdish," in 1991, and a mediocre "Midsummer Night's Dream," in 1999. In this movie, he achieves a new expressiveness, fluidity, and power. "The Last Station" may not be original in form, but it's vibrantly alive, with many scenes of scathing directness that seem to come straight out of Russian novels (though the pitch of feeling is closer to Dostoyevsky's hyperthyroid manner than to Tolstoy's firmer, calmer tone). The juiciest material is Sofya's detestation of Chertkov, whose celibacy she suspects is really just a cover for homosexuality. In any case, she's sure that he's a poseur and an opportunist, disguising his self-seeking with a veneer of piety. And for her Tolstoy's anti-sensual bent is rubbish-this is a man of huge lusts, who showed her his diaries of youthful whoring before their wedding. Sofya's situation is pitiable: she still wants her husband sexually, and will do anything to lure him back to bed and destroy his ideological purity. Helen Mirren may be the only actress who can beg for sex without losing a ferocious pride. Her Sofya, dressed in white like a bride, her hair long and full, makes scenes, howls, and gets thrown about by her own anger and desire like a rag doll in a storm. It's the most emotionally naked work of Mirren's movie career; she gives poetic form to the madness and the violence of commonplace jealousy. Her look of pleading and then of tenderness toward Plummer is heartbreaking.
Plummer, who is turning eighty himself, effortlessly suggests largeness of spirit even in foolish old age. Physically, he seems enormous. His eyes devour McAvoy's Valentin-his Tolstoy is hungry for information about everyone. He doesn't see why he has to choose between his wife and his followers; he wants everyone's love, and Sofya makes life at the estate complete hell. For him, there is no peace, except in flight and in death. In all, the movie is worthy of its valiant pair. The splendor and the amplitude of Yasnaya Polyana affirm in every scene the magnificence of the sensuous world that Tolstoy, with ambiguous energy, and many fond backward glances, so desperately wants to renounce.
Dec 7 09 8:57 PM
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Dec 7 09 10:16 PM
Writer of James Fiction
Dec 7 09 10:52 PM
Posted: 07/12/2009 21:34
Dec 7 09 10:59 PM
Posts: 1930
Dec 8 09 5:40 AM
stateside wrote: A.O. Scott's comment on James' performance "Mr. McAvoy does what he usually does, which is mime wet-eyed, stricken, lovable innocence, but this time in a more Russian way than he has before." Though I do not agree 100% with this, there were some emotions, movements, tilts….that were familiar to me. Right from the beginning….so I can only think that Scott, picked up on that also and dismissed really watching the rest of his performance. If that not be the case, then Scott should realize that this role was exactly that of a young man coming of age and learning / experiencing love for the first time.
Dec 8 09 5:57 AM
Dec 8 09 10:34 AM
stateside wrote: In the end…..ALL characters will have had their way with your feelings and emotions. James McAvoy…..I'm on the fence here with this performance being his best. I really liked this role and really feel James was excellent and quite brilliant at times. I cannot say just which parts/scenes were my favorites really. They were all that good. I could tell you in each scene what I really enjoyed, but I cannot really pick just one as my favorite.
I really liked this role and really feel James was excellent and quite brilliant at times. I cannot say just which parts/scenes were my favorites really. They were all that good. I could tell you in each scene what I really enjoyed, but I cannot really pick just one as my favorite.
The scene near the end is very powerful and heartbreaking. Feeling quite distraught and wanting to compose myself, I look away from the screen for a moment and noticed the young man (30-ish) to the left of me was trying to in obtrusively wipe the tears from his face. I looked around and noticed there were others also doing the same thing. It was very quiet in the theater after that scene and the only sound was the clapping during the credits.
I share your feelings. I like James in the role very much. I feel he brings alot to the various parts/scenes. At times I feel he is the glue. And yet, I have this funny feeling. Perhaps it's because I've seen all of his TV and movie performances many times and am now being too critical of my expectations. Also having seen him in TDOR doing six very different performances, I am aware of what he is capable of doing. Maybe I expect too much.
Dec 9 09 12:06 AM
Dec 9 09 12:32 AM
Dec 9 09 2:48 AM
Dec 9 09 3:28 PM
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Dec 9 09 4:43 PM
Dec 9 09 11:13 PM
Dec 9 09 11:28 PM
Dec 10 09 1:32 AM
Sorry if you feel I overreacted....you only mentioned NY, and I am a wee bit protective of one of my favorite playgrounds. I can understand your feelings towards AO Scott. There were some good reviews coming from NY for the movie and in the end, that is really all that matters. That James once again is connected to a well made quality movie. There will be noms for it or some of it's cast, and who knows James may get a nod. I tend not to even bother with what the reviewers write. I prefer to go see a movie myself and make my own conclusion. But hey, that's just me.
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