The Station Agent  

Directed and Written by Thomas McCarthy

Starring Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale

Rated R for language and some drug content

88 minutes runtime

Without question one of the sweetest movies of all time, this movie was the buzz on the streets when I saw it at the Angelika in mid-November.  In a city not known for its sweetness, this movie took the village by storm, playing to a sell-out crowd and dwarfing (oops, did I say that?) the performance of such power-house productions as “Elephant” and “Shattered Glass.”

“Station Agent” takes its time and tells its story slowly, in measured steps, as its star, Peter Dinklage, walks the “right of way” down the rails of life.  Dinklage plays Finbar McBride, formerly the sole employee of the Golden Spike model railroad store, suddenly thrown out of work when his boss, the store owner and only friend in the world, falls over dead in the shop.  That train don’t stop here any more.

This movie really is sweet on any level, but is guaranteed to steal the heart of the train enthusiast, even if their idea of a good movie is a video of train chasing.  Have you ever done “train chasing?”  Well, I have and boy is it fun.  Chasing trains through the mountains of Montana is one of the world’s greatest past times.  But remember, I’m also the guy who passed a semi in a no-passing zone in a state motor pool car, so I may not have the best judgment when it comes to driving. 

At any rate, the railroad tracks still carry the trains, but none stop at Fin’s desolate outpost, a mile away from the closest store.  Passing him by like good fortune, the long sad train whistle streams off like the bitter end of life’s rope slipping through his little fingers.

Little fingers!  Did I mention Fin was born with dwarfism?  And that he lives daily with the taunts and sneers of those lucky enough to have been normal?  And that he has slowly shut out the world that torments him for his bad luck; for getting the short end of the ticket stub?  Yes, Fin has a lot not to be thankful for.  He is a man of few words.  In fact he makes Clint Eastwood look like Mr. Rogers.  His permanently doleful expression broadcasts the message that you don’t want to know what he thinks.  And what difference would it make anyway?  Nobody cares.

Emerging from his dusty abode as the first rays of sunlight fall on his packed-dirt front yard Fin meets his new neighbor, the king of 30-something slackers, who has set up his father’s coffee and doughnut truck across the lot from Fin’s decaying train station.  Why Joe Oramas picked the wilderness to sell ice cream is unexplained; it would seem a neighborhood would have provided more fertile territory.  Maybe Joe needed the peace and quiet to deal with the impending loss of his father.  Bobby Cannavale plays the exuberant Joe Oramas, Fin’s exact opposite.  The six foot tall child to the four foot six father.

Fin meets Olivia when she nearly runs him over with her SUV.  She has paint all over her and we soon learn she is an artist, which explains why she is so daffy as to aim her car at whatever crosses her path.  But we soon learn Olivia (Patricia Clarkson) has more on her mind than just art.  Like Fin, she is hiding from a painful past that eludes closure.

The trio of Fin, Olivia and Joe form the classic family of father, mother and child, each with their own problems and their own powers of healing.  They are all faced with the losses of loved ones that threaten to deny them their very lives, and the loss of societal status that threatens their wills to live.  That such an unlikely trio would join together to confront their demons is testimony to the evolutionary genius of the archetypal family unit.  Their successful battle against despair lifts us all.

The scenes in Station Agent are shot with a steady hand and are clear and beautiful.  The scenes with trains frequently make use of telephotos that put the people immediately next to the overbearing machines.  The trains themselves become surrogates for Fin’s fatherhood, and nearly the death of him.  When he is feeling low, the scenes are dark and shadowy.  When he is about to suffer the slings and arrows of public reaction, the shots are over the edges of counters or next to doorways that emphasize his short stature.  The camera sets up the audience for the dialogue and lends it power.

A great movie from start to finish, the show’s R rating is for language and drug use that I can hardly remember; it was such a small part of the story.  The general dialogue and treatment of the characters is so uplifting and the tone of the movie so honest that I wouldn’t hesitate to take my high-school aged kids to see it.  As for comparisons, the somber and steady nature of the cinematography reminded me of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” without the life-or-death context.  This movie doesn’t threaten us with destruction; it simply shows us that life is what we make it.  The great “Ordinary People” starring Mary Tyler Moore and Donald Sutherland also comes to mind.  A classic story of a family dealing with loss.  And I don’t want to forget “My Girl” with Dan Akroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis.

You will hear more about this movie.  Don’t miss it.