Review of The Last Station (2009) by Dean B — 24 May 2010

Hooo boy. Last time James Mcavoy played a real-life character becoming emeshed in the life of a famous historical figure, he wound up strung up by his nipples in "The Last King of Scotland," opposite Forrest Whittaker as Idi Amin. Here, he plays a nice Russian schlub named Valentin being asked to insinuate himself into the household wars of Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) and his passionate, possibly unhinged wife Sofya (Helen Mirren). Faced with the full force of Mirren on a tear, you wonder if McAvoy might have been better off staying in Uganda with Whittaker-as-Amin.

"The Last Station" has a lot of stuff boiling in the borscht, not the least of which is its portrayal of a woman who, having given up most of her life to live in her brilliant husband's shadow, is now fighting tooth and claw for any scraps his acolytes deign to throw to her. Paul Giamatti qualifies as the villian here, worshipping Tolstoy as if he were Christ and encouraging him to leave all his work and royalties to the Russian people, thus effectively disinheriting his wife. Mirren goes into shrieking fits of rage, embarasses herself, throws herself into lakes, and tries vainly to woo McAvoy to her side, all the while feeling as if she is playing a losing hand against a stacked deck. On the one hand, Sofya is exhausting and horrifying; on the other hand, when she bursts through a window into a gathering wailing, "You're all plotting against me!" she's not entirely wrong. Plummer's Tolstoy is a lovely man, a Russian Santa Claus endlessly hugging people, and his first meeting with McAvoy is so saturated with homoeroticism and devotion, you can see why Sofya is threatened--her husband seems to be having a platonic love affair with all of Russia, especially his male devotees who hang on his every word. (It's a little like Magot Kidder's tearful cry "I'm jealous of the whole world!" in "Superman II.") When McAvoy hits the sheets with Masha (Kerry Condon), a luscious strawberry blonde with hints of the young Emma Thompson, it's definitely sexy but dramatically inert--Condon doesn't have half of the chemistry with McAvoy that Plummer does, and taking time away from Tolstoy is a cheat.

The Russian countryside is gorgeous to look at, and you feel a twinge of nostalgia for this faux-elysium of ancient Russia, before the revolution, Stalin, et all ripped it to pieces. It's more than enough for awhile. But the movie begins to paint the characters into corners once Tolstoy leaves Sofya, and takes up residence due to ill health in a forlorn train station. Will Sofya make it to his side before he dies? Will Tolstoy's self-righteous acolytes keep her on the train? Do we give a darn if Valentin winds up with Masha, when Plummer and Mirren are acting their hearts out? "The Last Station" just misses that passionate, slightly berserk artistry that transforms a biopic like "Amadeus" into a smashing work of art, even though it's still intelligent and moving entertainment.