everything you have heard about this movie is true.

An action-packed slog

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The movie presents us with the last years of Tolstoy's life and his relationship with his wife, Sofia. The film it supposed to be historical, but it has few historical facts in it. It focuses more on Sofia's character, her relationship with her husband and his friend, who wants to alter Tolstoy's will so that the copyrights of the books won't go to his wife, but the Russian people. Apart from that, there is the romance between Tolstoy's secretary and a young girl from his community or Tolstoyans. The insistence on the presentation of love in all it's forms and the continuous talking about sex is getting tiring after a while, and while Helen Mirren is fantastic in the role of Sofia, the movie strays of the main idea and focuses on the love between the two young people. Other than that, the rest of the scenes are endlessly boring. So, only because of the performances, I am giving the movie 4 out of 10.

It is classic. It is brilliant. I like it so much. It is slow, but each moment is enjoyable. I haven't seen anything of that level for some time. Actors are absolutely , astonishingly great.It is slow, it is not an action movie, but it is a masterpiece. It is a bit like Tolstoy's things themselves. 10 out of 10. Made me to register with IMDb. The other thing.Usually an interpretation of Russian literature, culture and living in western movies is a bit odd, even in old, commonly accepted classic movies, or in the best modern ones, like Enemy at the gate. This one is very authentic. It is the best movie about Tolstoy ever. That is including Russian movies.

I don't see what the point of making this movie was. It was boring and about an uninteresting writer. The 2 lead actors are good, but they aren't given much to do. Christopher Plummer plays famed writer Tolstoy and Helen Mirren is his wife, Sofya. They have been married nearly 50 years and love each other but also fight a lot. Sofya gets carried away and has a lot of emotional fights with her husband. She is worried that Vladamir, Tolstoy's friend, will try to steel the rights to his books once he dies. She's always talking about Vladamir trying to get the will changed. As a side plot, Vladmair hires Valentin to be Tolstoy's assistant, and report back to him everything that happens at home. Valentin starts an affair, she leaves, not much else with that story line.The ending is basically the last days of Tolstoy and how his wife really loves him.FINAL VERDICT: don't waste your time

Rather than present at least a GLIMPSE of Tolstoy's brilliance, Christopher Plummer depicts him as a one-dimensional, gruff, lovable old coot. He hardly has any lines throughout the movie, and the other characters are equally devoid of any depth. Helen Mirren's character is supposed to be self-centered and calculating, but even she breaks down into saccharine lightness at the end. The entire film is a descent into maudlin, pretentious sentimentality, and is only atmospheric, not substantive. Instead of being an accurate portrayal of early 1900's Russia, we are given "Russia-lite." We don't have a clue about Tolstoy's inner thoughts and motivations, because we see only an affable geezer. This was a squandered opportunity to reveal the mind of a complicated, social visionary. The director chose cute over interesting.