The Last Station (2009), The Conspirator (2011)

James McAvoy is an actor I primarily associate with period dramas and here are two examples, both based on fact.

The Last Station is about Leo Tolstoy, if only it were more about Leo Tolstoy. Christopher Plummer's good in the title role, but I wish the film had been more about him and less about the supporting figures. Instead of Tolstoy dispensing sage advice we get infighting between the acclaimed authors wife and the Tolstoyian communal group that had been built up around him. McAvoy is Tolstoys new secretary, he engages in hero worship, sneezes when nervous, has a nice little love affair, and attends the great man at his death in a train station (hence the title). The work is well crafted and kept my attention but was never as emotionally involving as I think it was suppose to be. It picked up a little at the end, in terms of expressing some kind of emotional resonance, but again this movie for me was just going through the motions.

The Conspirator on the other hand is a much better movie. James McAoy plays Fredrick Aiken, a Captian in the Civil War who is reluctantly pressed into service as legal council for Mary Surratt, the widowed owner of a boarding house who was the only woman charged with involvement in the conspiracy to kill Abraham Lincoln. In the fashion of movies of this type Aiken is gradually won over by Surratt (a strong subtle performance by Robin Wright), and gives to her defence an extraordinary amount of effort despite opposition on nearly every side (it even costs him his girlfriend played by Alexis Bledel, sadly the weakest link in the cast). On the whole however the cast is great, Evan Rachel Wood, Danny Houston, Stephan Root, Colm Meany, Tom Wilkinson as a high minded senator and Kevin Kline as Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (the primary villain of the piece). It's a really interesting, lesser known story, done skillfully by director Robert Redford. Also as much as we hear about Lincolns assassination I don't know if I've ever seen it depicted in detail on film before.

McAvoy gives strong performances in both films, but Conspirator just plan works better then Station. Director Micheal Hoffman tackled a different and ambitious kind of project in Station, but the more movie friendly storyline of Conspirator, while less ambitious, ultimately was the more effective outing. Surely though McAvoy will continue to play many more second string historical figures in the future.

The Last Station: C
The Conspirator: B+