KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

lampic Very interesting peek into literary giant's life and his lesser-known domestic troubles that completely lies on the shoulders of strong actors - it looks very much like stage drama but in fact it is adaptation from a novel. Director Michael Hoffman does his best to show off beautiful locations in Germany and Russia, however the main dialogues happens always indoors, so there is a certain "staginess" which in itself its not bad - specially since we have actors of this caliber. Both Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren were either awarded or nominated for awards on international film festivals for their roles of Leo Tolstoy and his wife Sofya, deservedly so: they completely bring back to life two people who lived, loved and fought for 48 years side by side, while creating some of the world's greatest novels together. Like probably for most of the people, their marriage was full of happiness, laughter, frustrations and compromises - strong personalities who needed each other and the movie shows fascinating interaction between them as they fight about publishing rights that might pass into public domain (Tolstoy's well-intended but somehow clumsy and selfish idea, considering his wealth should provide his family estate with comfortable life after his death). There are lots of hyenas and vultures around, excellent Paul Giamatti being just one of the many amongst them - and young secretary (James McAvoy) whose romance with free-spirited Russian girl reflecting passion between elderly Tolstoy couple. The character of this young, enthusiastic and open- hearted secretary is well-acted, though his initial naivety slowly started to go on my nerves, where towards the end of the movie I find him so annoying (he is aware of all the backstage manipulations but does absolutely nothing to prevent them or to help anybody) that I started to argue with the movie. Yes, I remember what it was to be young and unsure, painfully willing to please everybody and to tremble in front of authority but even than I was opinionated and probably more prone to fight for the right thing than today - its young people who are ready to die for their beliefs, so I just wanted this secretary to show some guts and fire, instead of being innocent, passive bystander. All the best about Plummer and Mirren, though. Whatever they do - when they argue, throw the plates, laugh or make love, they are joy to watch. "You don't need the husband, you need a Greek chorus" as angry Tolstoy scorns his wife.

Rich Wright A movie about the latter years of War And Peace scribe Leo Tolstoy may not sound like the most tantilizing of prospects, but this blows all your expectations out of the water by being both intelligent and moving. The spotlight is on a young writer who is given the job of committing Tolstoy's ideals to paper, so future generations may be inspired by his philosophies. While at Leo's mansion, he finds himself caught up in an argument between Tolstoy's friends, wife and their children about who gets the inheritance after he croaks. Will it be left to his nearest and dearest, or pass on to a shady bunch of men who swear to spend it to further Tolstoy's memory... Honest, guv. The young author also falls in love with a servant girl, who challenges his views on love and fidelity. And all he wanted to do was scribble a bit with his feather on parchment. Complications, complications...Central to the success of this work is the tempestuous relationship between Tolstoy and his wife. They have their ups and downs, but there's no doubt that they truly love one another and separately would not function at all. Played brilliantly by Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer, their marriage is a complex one with a perplexity rarely seen on screen... and that's what makes it so satisfying. The rest of the cast have their moments in the sun too... each one is a cog in the machine, as opposed to spare parts. And is it just me, or did people seem much smarter back then? Here, they ruminate over the meaning of life and your legacy in history... Nowadays, it's more who'll appear in the Big Brother house and whether an obscure gesture on a football pitch is racist or not. So much for progress... 7/10

edwagreen Pre-Communist 1917 revolution is the backdrop for this drama which features a totally over-the-top performance by Helen Mirren as the Countess Tolstoy, and Christopher Plummer as the great writer Leo Tolstoy. Both Mirren and Plummer were nominated for Oscars in the best actress and supporting actor divisions, respectively and deservedly lost to Sandra Bullock and Christoph Waltz, respectively.The movie is a slow moving one with a sidebar story of Tolstoy's social secretary finding love in the commune that the writer has set up.The film is extremely slow moving and brooding with Paul Giamatti, the friend of Plummer, stealing every scene that he is in. Conniving and supposedly loyal to his friend, he sets forth a changing of the will to supposedly help Tolstoy's cause of peace which sets him against Mirren.As shown in the film, the peasants didn't look like they had it that bad which is a major flaw of the film. In fact, Mirren seems to be suffering even more. Is she that money hungry, desperate for love or just what?

meeza "The Last Station" is not based on the Radio Station 107.9 on your FM dial. Come back, please do not change the station, come back to my review, just my silly pun humor. "The Last Station" is really Director Michael Hoffman's cinematic piece on the last days of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Leo was that long-bearded dude who wrote the infamous literary works "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina"; you know the ones that you used to pretend to read in World Literature class. Sorry Leo, I did not read your books, but your cliff notes were the bomb. Tolstoy, never a Gillette client, believed in a life devoid of material things during his latter years, even though he lived in a gargantuan mansion. Nevertheless, he wrested with that balance and that is one of "The Last Station" focal points. Tolstoy was married to Countess Sofya Tolstoy for 48 years, and she is a central figure in the movie's narrative, especially when it comes to her battle to keep Leo's writings "in the house" and not be disclosed in the wrong hands of shady profit-seekers disguised as Tolstoyians. But in reality, "The Last Station" primarily revolves around the experience of young Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy's personal secretary who has the challenging task of carrying out his work. Bulgakov is initially sent to the Tolstoy residence to carry out his secretarial duties by Tolstoy's #1 groupie (in other words, chief Leo follower) Vladimir Chertkov, who will do whatever it takes to advance the Tolstoyian cause. Vladimir butts heads with Countess Sofya who wants Leo all to himself in his last days of peace. Valentin himself becomes quite a Valentino by romancing the free-spirit Masha, who differs from Valentin's philosophies but he just cannot seem to resist her Masha's unit of a body. Director Michael Hoffman does an adequate job in helming & scribing "The Last Station", but one definitely has to be an avid connoisseur of period-piece flicks to relish this movie. The acting standouts are Helen Mirren as Countess Sofya and Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy, both were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. James McAvoy as Valentin, and Paul Giamatti as Vladimir were adequate but nothing to write home about. "The Last Station" does offer some delights if you are a Leo Tolstoy aficionado, but if you are not (which are most of us) I advice you to change the station, you will be bored. *** Average