THE LAST STATION
CAROLINE: I was curious about this little movie that no one’s really talking about, “The Last Station,” since it garnered two Golden Globe nominations in the acting categories.
RYAN: Yes, for Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer. I must confess I haven’t heard much about this movie. What’s it about?
CAROLINE: It’s about the final years of Leo Tolstoy, his relationship with his wife and their battle over the copyright to his novels.
RYAN: Umm… can’t say that sounds like anything I’d care about.
CAROLINE: I know, right? I thought the same thing; but it’s actually quite good. And it co-stars James McAvoy who has a great romantic sub-plot.
RYAN: I like him. I just can’t get past the Tolstoy thing. It just doesn’t seem like something I’d want to watch.
CAROLINE: I hear you, but it’s an interesting story. Christopher Plummer is good, but he basically just wanders around in white outfits and has a long beard. Helen Mirren is fabulous. Her character’s meant to be kind of a shrew, but she’s just trying to maintain the family’s fortune. She’s very convincing. I’m kind of in awe of her.
RYAN: She really is amazing.
CAROLINE: Paul Giamatti is also in it, and quite good. Overall, I was pretty into it. The story was compelling, and of course, I loved the James McAvoy love story. I had to laugh at the fact that they all had British accents though. No one even attempted to do Russian. Not very authentic.
RYAN: LBH, they always do that in these movies that take place in foreign countries. “Valkyrie,” anyone?
CAROLINE: It also made me wonder what James McAvoy has been up to. I haven’t seen him in anything since “Wanted.” He needs to work more often.
RYAN: So is this movie even out in theaters yet? I haven’t seen any ads or anything.
CAROLINE: Well, it came out earlier this month in limited release in order to be eligible for Oscar contention. But it doesn’t go into wider release for a couple weeks. It has a bunch of Independent Spirit noms too, by the way.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: It’s an interesting indie flick that I went into with very low expectations and wound up enjoying. The acting is superb and the story, albeit random, is pretty interesting. It’s a small movie for sure; not for a mainstream audience. But for people who care about artsy movies like this, it’s a good one.
— RATING —