The Last Station (2009)

I know, I know, it's another repost.  You guys know I wouldn't do this to you if I didn't have to, right?  I have high hopes of getting my homework done early enough to watch something new today.  It's mostly reading, so that should go by pretty quickly.

You don't care about my homework, nor should you.  You should care about The Last Station.  It really is a great film.  I didn't think it would stand up to a second viewing but I was wrong.  Originally posted 07 Jul 2013.    I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this film.  It doesn't sound like much, and by now you're all aware of my hatred for character dramas, but it was extremely compelling.

Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) is regarded by the Russian people as practically a living saint.  He has founded a movement to eschew physical property and ostentation, anchored by his friend and supporter Chertkov (Paul Giamatti).  This annoys his wife, Sofya (Helen Mirren) to no end, seeing as Tolstoy is a count of substantial standing.  She is concerned that Chertkov is exerting undue pressure on the aging writer to change his will, stipulating that his copyrights be placed in the public domain.  Both Chertkov and Sofya try to subvert Tolstoy's young secretary, Valentin (James McAvoy), to their respective cause. 

Helen Mirren is a spectacular creature.  She has all the best scenes in this movie.  All of them.  Christopher Plummer is excellent as Tolstoy, and McAvoy is at least watchable.  Paul Giamatti is unctuous and sleazy in the best way possible, but this is Dame Mirren's show and don't you forget it.

I know I don't usually talk about the orchestral score of a movie (because I usually don't notice it) but the music here was beautiful.  Sergei Yevtushenko is the man responsible for that, minus a piece from Puccini.

It was nominated for two Oscars in 2010:  Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Plummer) and Best Lead Actress (Helen Mirren).  They lost to Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) and Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  And now I'm all conflicted because I liked both of the winners in their roles as well.  Damn you, Academy!  Why do you make me feel?!