Movie Review: The Emperor's Club

The Emperor's Club (2002)

Directed by Michael Hoffman

Written by Neil Tolkin 

Starring Kevin Kline, Steven Culp, Embeth Davidtz, Patrick Dempsey, Emile Hirsch, Rob Morrow 

Release Date November 22nd, 2002 

Published November 22nd, 2002 

In Life as A House, Kevin Kline pandered unsuccessfully to Oscar voters with a character that begged to be loved. Why an actor as talented as Kline felt the need to beg for an Oscar nomination is beyond me because, with his roles in the highly underrated comedy Dave and the forgotten cop thriller The January Man (which is a personal favorite of mine), Kline has proved he can act as well as anyone. In his latest film, The Emperor's Club, Kline takes on yet another role that seems to scream for Oscar attention while not deserving it.

Kline stars as Mr. Hundert, a professor at an all-boys private school named St. Benedictus. Mr Hundert teaches the classics and Roman history, to a group of kids who will grow up to be politicians and the future captains of industry. At first, he is simply dealing with a group of bright kids who are just there to learn. Things change when the troublemaking son of a senator named Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) joins the class and begins to disrupt things. At first, Mr. Hundert is at a loss as to how to teach Sedgewick since the kid simply refuses to do anything. However after speaking to Sedgewick's father (character actor Harris Yulin, in a typically villainous role), Hundert sees a way to reach the young boy.

The culmination of the school year is a competition between students to become Mr. Julius Caesar, a crown bestowed on the student who has the greatest knowledge of Roman history. Sedgewick begins taking part in class and earns a spot in the contest finals for Mr. Julius Caesar. Though Sedgewick didn't truly earn his spot, Mr. Hundert increased Sedgewick's score on a test, just enough to get him in the contest. Whether he felt sorry for Sedgewick or felt his hard work warranted the extra couple points, Mr. Hundert's decision will come to haunt him when he catches Sedgewick trying to cheat in the contest.

The film begins with an older Mr. Hundert reuniting with his class of 1976, the class which incluses Sedgewick and his friends, and ends with the actual reunion which was organized by Sedgewick as a rematch of the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.

The Emperor's Club is notable for its simplistic scale. This is not meant to be a broad inspirational tale, but rather, a straightforward, earnest character study. It is a movie that seems dedicated to the one teacher that everyone remembers fondly, but instead is a study of one man and his decisions and morals. Mr. Hundert is a good man whose bad decisions haunt him for a long time, but never overwhelm him.

This is not Mr. Holland's Opus or Dead Poets Society; this film isn't that broad. The Emperor's Club is a simple character study. If only that character were more interesting than this one. The Emperor's Club could have been pretty good. Kevin Kline has natural charisma and intelligence yet his Mr. Hundert is an endlessly dull character, as are his students.

Anyone who has never been to a private school and could care less for its rites and traditions will find that The Emperor's Club does little to make them interesting. I expected the film to illustrate the exhilaration of learning. Learning even the most obscure knowledge can be exciting, but the film fails to show this. Instead, the film glosses over the teaching and learning in favor of its morality play.

I have yet to see a film that really expressed the joy of learning. Stand & Deliver came close, but was more concerned with racial politics than with learning. The Emperor's Club had the opportunity and missed. Still I believe someday a film will truly show the joy of learning and that will be one great film.

Movie Review The Last Station

The Last Station(2009) 

Directed by Michael Hoffman 

Written by Michael Hoffman 

Starring Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, James McAvoy, Paul Giamatti, Kerry Condon 

Release Date December 23rd, 2009 

Published January 5th, 2010 

I know little of Leo Tolstoy beyond his most famous works. I have not read “War and Peace” or “Anna Karenina.” Like so many poseur intellectuals I speak of wanting to read them as a way of improving my standing in conversation. Tolstoy has been co-opted by many more famous impostors than I. Now, having experienced “The Last Station,” a fictionalized account of Tolstoy’s last days, I feel I should attempt a more sincere appreciation.

“The Last Station” stars Christopher Plummer as Tolstoy and Helen Mirren as his wife of 48 years, Countess Sophia. In another incarnation this film starred Anthony Hopkins as Tolstoy and Meryl Streep as the Countess. Regardless, “The Last Station” in its final form cannot be improved upon. The relationship between Tolstoy and his wife in the last year of his life is observed by us through the eyes of Valentin (James McAvoy). Hired to be Tolstoy’s personal secretary, Valentin is really a spy for Tolstoy’s long time acolyte Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), the leader of the so-called Worldwide Tolstoyan Movement.

Chertkov suspects that the Countess is pushing Tolstoy to sell his great works to the highest bidder instead of giving them to Chertkov who plans to distribute them for free as part of the movement. Valentin, a true believer in the movement, right down to the misguided chastity pledge, which Tolstoy himself disabuses him of, is trapped right in the middle of a bitter power struggle.

Valentin’s troubles are multiplied when he meets Masha (Kerry Condon). Among the only women in the movement, Masha definitely never got the chastity pledge part; she lives the Tolstoy philosophy directly from the books and not from Chertkov’s co-opting of Tolstoy. Masha immediately falls for Valentin, whose lack of sexual experience makes him both terrified and bold. The romance is encouraged by both Tolstoy and the Countess whose own love affair has run hot and cold for more than 40 years. Chertkov meanwhile, sees Valentin’s love as a betrayal and is concerned that Valentin has been won over to the side of the Countess.

When Chertkov arrives at the compound after years of house arrest in Moscow he immediately sets about isolating Tolstoy from the Countess and leaving Valentin even more trapped amid the struggle for the great man’s soul. Directed by Michael Hoffman (“Restoration”), “The Last Station” is a passionate tale of lifelong love and a devotion to an idea. Tolstoy was desperate to help the dispossessed, a need exploited by Chertkov and loathed by the Countess who felt he should care for his family above all.

The wedge driven between the love of Tolstoy’s life and the ideals he so passionately defended is a deep and enduring drama driven home in the wounded soul performance of the great Christopher Plummer. In what can be fairly called the finest performance in his illustrious career, Christopher Plummer gives a lively, full breath performance as Tolstoy.

While the great man can fairly be called out for being wishy washy over his final wishes, he is not without passion in both directions and the conflicting passions are the chafing tension at the heart of “The Last Station.”

James McAvoy is an excellent stand in for us in the audience. As the innocent observer he on our behalf witnesses with wide eyes Tolstoy’s love for the Countess and his commitment to care for the poor that was part of Tolstoy’s work. When McAvoy as Valentin falls for Masha, the film adds another layer of drama and romance to an already moving and engaging film.

Kerry Condon is radiant as Masha, a free spirit who refuses to be tied down to any one’s idea of life but her own even as she has a soft spot for Tolstoy’s visionary empathy.

Helen Mirren and Paul Giamatti round out a fine ensemble cast as two people who were destined to clash. The Countess was always a woman of privilege whose status gave Tolstoy free reign to become the champion of the poor. Chertkov, on the other hand, was a peasant and perhaps a charlatan who gained a modest amount of celebrity status for himself thanks to his access to and eventual guru-like control over Tolstoy.

“The Last Station” brims with passion, tension, love and deep sadness.

The final scenes, set inside the cottage of a railroad Pullman surrounded by a coterie of reporters waiting like vultures for the news of Tolstoy’s passing, are moving for being pitched at just the right dramatic level. As the Countess waits outside in a railroad car, Tolstoy calls out for his love and Valentin’s divided soul, minus Masha, and pulled by Chertkov, radiates with grief.

It is a powerful series of scenes and one you must see and feel for yourself. “The Last Station” is one of the best movies of 2009.