Review of The Last Station

"The Last Station" is not based on the Radio Station 107.9 on your FM dial. Come back, please do not change the station, come back to my review, just my silly pun humor. "The Last Station" is really Director Michael Hoffman's cinematic piece on the last days of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Leo was that long-bearded dude who wrote the infamous literary works "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina"; you know the ones that you used to pretend to read in World Literature class. Sorry Leo, I did not read your books, but your cliff notes were the bomb. Tolstoy, never a Gillette client, believed in a life devoid of material things during his latter years, even though he lived in a gargantuan mansion. Nevertheless, he wrested with that balance and that is one of "The Last Station" focal points. Tolstoy was married to Countess Sofya Tolstoy for 48 years, and she is a central figure in the movie's narrative, especially when it comes to her battle to keep Leo's writings "in the house" and not be disclosed in the wrong hands of shady profit-seekers disguised as Tolstoyians. But in reality, "The Last Station" primarily revolves around the experience of young Valentin Bulgakov, Tolstoy's personal secretary who has the challenging task of carrying out his work. Bulgakov is initially sent to the Tolstoy residence to carry out his secretarial duties by Tolstoy's #1 groupie (in other words, chief Leo follower) Vladimir Chertkov, who will do whatever it takes to advance the Tolstoyian cause. Vladimir butts heads with Countess Sofya who wants Leo all to himself in his last days of peace. Valentin himself becomes quite a Valentino by romancing the free-spirit Masha, who differs from Valentin's philosophies but he just cannot seem to resist her Masha's unit of a body. Director Michael Hoffman does an adequate job in helming & scribing "The Last Station", but one definitely has to be an avid connoisseur of period-piece flicks to relish this movie. The acting standouts are Helen Mirren as Countess Sofya and Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy, both were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. James McAvoy as Valentin, and Paul Giamatti as Vladimir were adequate but nothing to write home about. "The Last Station" does offer some delights if you are a Leo Tolstoy aficionado, but if you are not (which are most of us) I advice you to change the station, you will be bored. *** Average