The Station Agent
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jase Blankfort, Josh Pais, Paul Benjamin, Paula Garcés, Peter DinklageBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Unknown; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Unknown
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
Published: 2004-06-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-15
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
Movie Reviews of The Station Agent
Movie Review: When Three Friends Collide
Summary: 5 Stars
`The Station Agent' is one of those rare movies that lingers through your memory long after having watched it. Not since `Lars and the Real Girl' have I felt this way about a quirky independent film where you fall in love with the characters and marvel at the warmth and eccentricity they elicit.
The movie starts with Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage, `In Bruges') a dwarf (at least that's the term he prefers, so I'll go along with him) who works as a fix-it man at a used goods store. Despite the tool man position, he's sharply dressed with a collared shirt and tie. His moves are mundane, and the store's atmosphere is serene and quiet. The deliberations of his life are similar. He goes shopping. He lives alone. He doesn't have any companionship, and whatever entertainment he ekes out is spent by himself. Then the owner of the shop (Paul Benjamin) dies.
Soon Finbar learns that he's inherited a train station depot from his deceased employer. The shop is sold with its merchandise, so he pursues his newfound possession, nestled in a sleepy New Jersey neighborhood where much renovation is needed .
He's able to live in the station depot where in former times the thriving railroad stop provided a barber shop and a familiar store with convenience items. (Although the trains that go through every night make sleep difficult.) Within a few yards of him is Joe Oramas (Bobby Cannavale, `Romance & Cigarettes') a Latino who runs his ailing father's hot dog and coffee vending stand from a trailer. Joey is gregarious and friendly with his new neighbor. His overtures, however, fall flat on the taciturn Finbar whose silence speaks volumes about the ordeals he endures about his height.
The two get caught up as a threesome when a separated housewife, Olivia Harris (Patricia Clarkson `Lars and the Real Girl') nearly runs Finbar over on the road juggling with the distracted driver syndrome we're all used to. Trying to make it up to him, Olivia finds a social context in which all three can get involved together. Finbar finally opens up. Eventually, they each have something to give one another, and the tripod becomes more complete with four when Finbar becomes infatuated with the local librarian (Michelle Williams) and extends to five when Cleo (Raven Goodwin), a curious and precocious African-American girl, shares his company and fascination about trains.
The differences between the three characters is so clever, yet uncanny, you can hardly believe how well their chemistry works together. Whether gathering at Olivia's house and art gallery, going train chasing with two amateur filmmakers whose heights are at a great distance, or just sharing a meal, the movie gels with unusual sparkle and grace.
The film demonstrates that in the midst of the usual hustle and bustle a dwarf will especially be treated like he's invisible target and in the way. But they all have hurdles to leap over. In Olivia's split marriage arrangement some past secrets come creeping back into her life, and Joey's outgoing vivacity has little time and space when caring for a sick father.
Colorful, charming, and engaging `The Station Agent' is one of those gems that make you wish independent movies were always this good. (Written and directed by Thomas McCarthy who directed the recent film `The Visitor' due out on DVD in October.)
A J.P.'s Pick 5*'s = Exceptional
Summary of The Station Agent
Winner of 2003 Sundance Film Festival awards (Best Drama, Audience Award; Best Screenplay, Tom McCarthy; Best Performance, Patricia Clarkson), THE STATION AGENT stars Emmy Award winner Patricia Clarkson (TV's SIX FEET UNDER, FAR FROM HEAVEN), Peter Dinklage (ELF), and Bobby Cannavale (TV's 24, THIRD WATCH) in a comedy about friendship that will have you smiling long after the final credits. Fin McBride (Dinklage), a loner with a passion for trains, inherits an abandoned train station in the middle of nowhere -- a place that suits him just fine because all he wants is to be alone. But that is not to be. Soon after moving in, he discovers his isolated depot is more like Grand Central Station. There's Olivia (Clarkson), a distracted and troubled artist, and Joe (Cannavale), a friendly Cuban with an insatiable hunger for conversation. With absolutely nothing in common, they find their isolated lives coming together in a friendship none of them could foresee.A strong ensemble and director Tom McCarthy's sweetly low-key observations make Sundance fave The Station Agent a treat. The film revolves around a reserved, somber dwarf (Peter Dinklage, immortalized by his brilliant ticked-off tirade in Living in Oblivion), a train enthusiast who inherits a small depot in rural New Jersey. He makes friends, somewhat reluctantly, with a group of eccentric locals: the guy at the coffee stand (buoyant Bobby Cannavale), an artist (Patricia Clarkson, impeccable as usual), a librarian (Michelle Williams). A few of the plot strands feel forced, but whenever the actors are simply playing off each other with McCarthy's nicely understated dialogue--which is most of the time--it ambles along winningly. You'll also learn more than you ever thought you'd want to know about trains. The key is Dinklage's smoldering performance, one of those reminders that a single scowl is worth pages of conversation. --Robert Horton
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