A thoroughly entertaining historical melodrama based on the tempestuous final year of Leo Tolstoy and the bitter rivalry for his attention and literary legacy. Sofya (Helen Mirren), his wife of 48 years who had 13 children and copied out 'War and Peace' six times, wants his vastly profitable copyright to stay in the family and is furious that his crafty disciple Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), the fanatical head of the Tolstoyan movement, wants him to sign away his rights to the Russian people. Tolstoy's secretary Valentin (James McAvoy) is caught in the middle of the strained household. Christopher Plummer as the author and Mirren as his voracious, hysterical wife are superb - two acting giants who shine as an aged but still passionate couple at war.

Handsome, engrossing, frequently very funny for a literary bio drama, and ultimately deeply moving, with pitch-perfect performances from one and all. Empire Magazine