Plummer and Mirren find theatrical sparks; they enliven Hoffman's thesis about Tolstoy's beliefs and his contradictory, actual love life.

72.500

Beautiluffy acted but the plot left something to be desired.

"Drawing on Jay Parini's novel of the same name, Hoffman's film is potentially rich in dramatic situation, but it squanders these possibilities by making them dependant on the director's underimagined central quartet." - Andrew Schenker

I'm thinking of becoming a Tolstoyan. It seems great. If you dispense with the whole celibacy thing. And the fact that you have Giamatti scheming plus Plummer and Mirren screaming at each other.

As the introductory text fades this film ushers you into an odd period of misplaced accents and poorly disguised Englishmen. However, the cast fights back from this disadvantage, and manages to toe the line of melodrama without stepping into schlock. Mirren is a fantastic wreck, and gracefully accepts her role at the emotional center of this film as McAvoy gently opens the door for us. I liked this film, it wasn't perfect, but hardly anything is.

slow moving but fascinating characters and great performances

Does Helen Mirren ever fail to make a movie memorable? Certainly not here. Recommended.

Who should have thought that a movie about Tolstoy's life would be this entertaining? Mirren deserves the Oscar-nomination but there's solid work by the whole cast, great even by McAvoy.

Superb career crowning performances for both Helen Mirren (BA) and Christopher Plumber (BSA)--supporting??? The passionate/humorous relationship between the main characters with their engaging dialogue (uh oh, the "D" word), and the steamy, explicit one between the naive Valintin and Masha, carry the movie. Hoffman plays fast and loose with history, mostly by ignoring it or presenting Tolstoy as ambivalent to the ideas ascribed to him, and was probably much more senile than presented here.

Old people fight. Woohoo. Who cares?

Light sport made of a great figure, Tolstoy in his "eccentric" later years of anti-materialism, nonresistance, celibacy, vegetarianism, or, in short, Tolstoyanism. It remains for the most part a spectacle of disinterested amusement, although something deeper develops around the deathbed. Expertly, if theatrically, acted by Plummer and Mirren, and archive footage of the real personages during the closing credits affirms the studiousness of the project.

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I feel The Last Station did veer quite a bit into mawkish territory. There's a lot else to like about it though, mostly it's positive and earnest attitude toward love, romance, and life.

very good movie very good story 10 out of 10 very good cast of stars

A little slow-moving, but very well made. The British accents were totally distracting. Didn't feel Russian in the slightest bit.

A beautiful, sophisticated story with a great script and fantastic performances.

While the second half isn't nearly as enjoyable as the first, the delightful acting and is well worth it.

An actors tour de force movie with very fine performances of McAvoy, Condon and Duff aside of giants Plummer and Mirren. Also a nice touch of history with cozy feelings and a bit of tears. Not a great one though.

Certainly not a great film and not even a particularly memorable one, but the acting is so good (Mirren, Plummer, McAvoy, Giamatti) and the plot so engaging that one can't help but be entertained. It's also a good thing that the film manages to be dramatic without going into schmaltzy territories.