The Last Station

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Opening in theatres is an amazing story of a life and love with director Michael Hoffman and Sony Picture Classics based on the novel by Jay Parini with “The Last Station”.

This film tells the story of Russian author Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) and his wife Sofya (Helen Mirren). By this time Tolstoy has embraced minimalism while Sofya clings to her aristocratic ways.

There problem is Sofya believes that adviser Vladmir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) is attempting to talk Tolstoy into changing his will leaving all his works to the Russian people.

While Chertkov is under house arrest, he hires Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) a wide-eyed young man who believes in all that Tolstoy represents. He becomes the writer’s secretary but is also a household spy.

Valentin sees and hears all the goes on in the Tolstoy household and when Chertkov is released from house arrest things get even worse. Back in the picture he manages to go behind Sofya’s back to get what he has wanted from the start.

Sofya is beside herself and as Tolstoy leaves to find peace from it all – the true story of the love between these two people comes to the surface.

FINAL WORD: Plummer is absolutely delightful as Tolstoy. He captures the love and anguish with every cragg of his aged face. When Tolstoy is calling for his wife it is one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever.

Mirren is perfection as Sofya! Trying everything in her power to maintain control of her family and their estate is hard enough, but add the immense love she has for her husband and it’s amazing. Even her childlike tactics are endearing.

McAvoy plays his solid self. There is something quite enchanting about this actor that I haven’t put my finger on yet. From “The Last King of Scotland” to “Atonement”, this actor gives and gives consistent performances and this is another notch in his belt.

Other cast include: Ann-Marie Duff as Sasha Tolstoy, Patrick Kennedy as Sergeyenko, John Sessions as Dushan, Nenad Lucic as Vanja, Tomas Spencer as Andrey Tolstoy and  Maximillian Gartner as Kind.

There is no surprise here that “The Last Station” has won awards by the Hessian and Rome Film Festival. Plummer and Mirren were also both nominated by the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give “The Last Station” four tubs of popcorn out of five. It is a delightful and emotional look at the relationship between a man and woman. The film is heartbreaking and beautifully put on film.

This is a grand cast and a definite Oscar contender that should be seriously considered and is one of the best pictures of 2009.

In the end – intoxicating, infuriating and impossible; that’s love.