The Last Station
- Year:2009
- Rating:M
- Director:Michael Hoffman
- Cast:Anne-Marie Duff, Paul Giamatti, James McAvoy, Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer
- Release Date:April 01, 2010
- Distributor:Becker Group
- Running time:112 minutes
- Film Worth:$12.00
- FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Impressively directed and finely acted, this film gives real insight into the life of a fascinating man
As the film begins, the aged Leo Tolstoy (Oscar nominee for this role, Christopher Plummer) has become famous throughout Russia and the world as a great author and thinker. Subsequently, a movement and commune inspired by him have arisen in the Russian countryside. The young devoted Tolstoy follower Valentin (James McAvoy) has been hired as the great author's secretary, but he soon discovers that his job description unofficially extends to serving as a couple's therapist for Tolstoy and his passionate wife Sofya (Oscar nominee for this role, Helen Mirren). When Tolstoy decides that he will be leaving his accumulated wealth to the people of Russia, and not to his wife, Valentin becomes caught up in a major emotional tug of war between these two larger-than-life characters, all the while carrying on a romance of his own.
With plenty of light moments to complement the drama of the collapsing marriage and the machinations of Tolstoy's closest followers (particularly Paul Giamatti's overly enthusiastic sycophant), The Last Station - directed with an impressive light touch by Michael Hoffman - is a story as much about the importance and the strength of love in one's life as it is about the later years of a celebrated author. Mirren's playful personality and her dramatic character changes makes her a volatile force to be reckoned with, while McAvoy suitably plays the nervous and devoted servant whose own world needs to be opened up for him by his love of another.
