"The Last Station" was adapted from the novel by Jay Parini, and its structure is fairly intricate parallel love stories (Tolstoy and Sofya, Valentin and Masha), plus interlocking triangles (Sofya and Chertkov contending for Tolstoy's soul, Sofya and Chertkov pumping Valentin for information about one another's grip on Tolstoy's property).

WSJ: The Last Station and The Book of Eli | Review by Joe Morgenstern

The little station, in the middle of a vast Russian nowhere, quickly became the site of a protomedia frenzy when telegraph wires flashed news of Tolstoy's illness, and Sofya came to see her beloved husband for the last time.

WSJ: The Last Station and The Book of Eli | Review by Joe Morgenstern

"I think Tolstoy himself would have been perplexed by all this, but Sofya, his wife, would have been over the moon, " Mirren said.

CNN: 'Avatar,' 'Hurt Locker' lead in Oscar nods

Shall Tolstoy leave the copyright and the enormous profits from his worldly masterpieces to Sofya and their children?

NEWYORKER: The Last Station