Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Last Station’ Showcases Two Great Actors in Top Form

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CHICAGO – Michael Hoffman is not a director renowned for operatic drama. The closest he ever got to staging Shakespeare onscreen was in his problematic 1999 adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Emotional outbursts in a Hoffman picture are often tinged with offbeat humor, a fact well-illustrated by his his under-appreciated 1991 comedy “Soapdish.”

“The Last Station” may initially seem like the kind of picture dripping with self-conscious prestige that’s predictably unveiled at Oscar season. Based on the novel by Jay Parini, the film stars Christopher Plummer as legendary Russian author Leo Tolstoy during the last year of his life. His belief in pacifism and his denouncement of materialism has inspired him to “donate” his life’s work to the general public. While Tolstoy’s fanatical friend and disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), adamantly supports his decision, Sofya is furiously against it, fearing that her husband’s idealism has drifted into madness.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

This would seem like the standard premise for a serious period drama, something akin to Tolstoy’s own “War and Peace.” Yet “The Last Station,” for all its bombastic melodrama and torrential tears, is surprisingly light on its feet. It’s as if the filmmakers took a cue from Tolstoy himself, whose peaceful, even affable nature is impeccably channeled by Plummer, approaching the role much like how Morgan Freeman tackled the part of Mandela in “Invictus.” The domestic squabbles between Plummer and Mirren are raw and fiery, but they also convey a certain warmth, generated from the love these two individuals possess for one another, no matter how much they tear each other apart. At its best, “Station” evokes the power of Anthony Harvey’s 1968 masterpiece, “The Lion in Winter,” with its breathtakingly funny and devastating verbal battles between Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. However, Mirren’s line delivery lacks Hepburn’s comic timing, and there are times when her sincerity is awkwardly juxtaposed with Hoffman’s irony, particularly when a theatrical fight is self-consciously scored with an opera.

The Last Station was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on June 22nd, 2010.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

A bigger problem with the film is its tired framing device involving a youth, Tolstoy’s personal secretary Valentin (James McAvoy), who is meant to be the audience’s point of entry into the story. This is the second time McAvoy’s exceptional talent has been wasted in a role that exists merely to steer audience sympathy, rather than allow viewers to decide how they feel about the historical figures being dissected. Valentin’s virginal innocence and penchant for declaring his love for truth, freedom, and “above all things, love,” makes him practically identical to Ewan McGregor’s penniless writer in “Moulin Rouge.” McAvoy delivers what may be the strongest work of his career to date, but his character is a bothersome distraction in a story that should be focused primarily on its two towering leads. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Box Office Returns stupidly nominated Mirren as Best Actress and Plummer as Best Supporting Actor, even though they roughly share the exact same amount of screen time. They’re practically supporting players in their own story, but when this picture allows them to shine, it’s clear that there are precious few stars brighter in the cinematic galaxy.

Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren star in Michael Hoffman’s The Last Station. Photo credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

“The Last Station” is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio), and includes a sparkling audio commentary from Mirren and Plummer. They exude such natural chemistry that one wishes to see them reunite in a romantic comedy—preferably one that doesn’t involve death or screen-hogging whippersnappers. Plummer is delightfully self-deprecating while observing his performance, and admits that he’s “as Russian as Kansas in August.” While enjoying their flirtatious bedroom scene, Mirren discusses how she loves filming scenes like this, leading to Plummer’s priceless line, “You seemed more at ease in bed.” Though Hoffman’s commentary track isn’t quite as entertaining, it provides an enlightening portrait of the filmmaker’s process in adapting Parini’s novel for the big screen. Many of the best lines in the script were taken directly from Tolstoy’s diary, though much of the historical detail surrounding his Utopian Socialist movement was abandoned in favor of the central love story. Hoffman said that his own marriage inspired him to explore the difficulty of living with and without love. Many of the photographs he found of Tolstoy were taken by Sofya or Chertkov, who both happened to be amateur photographers, which allowed Hoffman to view the man from both of their perspectives.

The disc’s twelve minutes of deleted scenes offer some real gems, including an early sequence that both Mirren and Plummer were sad to see disappear. It involves an impromptu speech by Tolstoy delivered from a train stalled by his adoring public. The scene illustrates a more dynamic shade to his character that the film was conspicuously lacking. Another essential moment centers on a line of dialogue from Tolstoy’s daughter, Sasha (the riveting Anne-Marie Duff), that brings her a whole new, less enigmatic dimension. The oddest extra is an eight-minute blooper reel that’s more confusing than funny, and offers startling footage of the actors cracking up during some of their big emotional scenes. There’s also a terrific interview with Plummer at AFI Fest where he’s grilled about his memoir, “In Spite of Myself,” in which he recalls the time he and Jason Robards rode a motorcycle into P.J. Clarke’s. Though he’s proud of his immortal stage work, Plummer says that he’s still waiting for his great screen role. Apparently Captain Von Trapp didn’t cut it.

By MATT FAGERHOLM Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com matt@hollywoodchicago.com