Now I'm not gonna lie and pretend I've read Tolstoy and I'm a huge fan, because I haven't read a single thing written by him other than the first 20 pages of War and Peace. But I am a fan of his quotes and what he believes in so with that being said I was looking forward to seeing The Last Station and upon exiting the theater I really want to start up one of his books, even finish War and Peace.
The film is really a character driven drama more than anything. The film starts off with Vladimir Chertkov, played by one of my favorite actors Paul Giamatti, sending a young man Valentin, played by James McAvoy, to travel to the Tolstoy compound and be his assistant. It soon follows the final days of Tolstoy and his wife Sofya grieving over the fact that he cares more about his writings then her.
We get a pretty good glimpse into the life of Leo Tolstoy and the impact that he and his writings have on people. We see the compound where his followers stay at and it was interesting to see him being followed like some kind of god. It just shows you that it takes a brave and talented person to write what he wrote and believe in what he believed in. We need more people like that in the world today.
The performances are really great by the entire cast. James McAvoy is growing on me more and more every time I see him perform. Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy was right on key and he looked so much like the pictures of Tolstoy that I've seen. I wish he would play him again and focus more on his life. Helen Mirran once again has another Oscar nom performance as Sofya Tolstoy. Her scenes are quite powerful as she plays almost a lunatic type of wife screaming and crying in one scene and being loving and laughing in the next. It was quite fun to watch. The Last Station gets a solid 3 and 1/2 outa 5.
