video review: The Station Agent

Published in The Post-Star
9/9/05

The Station Agent 2003. Written and directed by Thomas McCarthy. Starring Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale, and Patricia Clarkson. 88 minutes. Rated R.

In this deeper-than-average comedy, Peter Dinklage plays Finbar McBride, a shorter-than-average man whose social life is even more stunted than his physical height. His stoic dignity makes it hard to put your finger on why you recognize him -- could this really be the face of the disgruntled dwarf who climbed onto a boardroom table to berate Will Ferrell's character in "Elf," another 2003 comedy? Indeed it is. But this time, Dinklage's screen presence is 10 feet tall.

The film centers on Fin's attempts to become a hermit of sorts in a ramshackle train depot he inherits from a friend (his only friend, apparently), who shared his obsession with railroads. By escaping to a boring little enclave of New Jersey, Fin hopes to find relief from the stares and snickers that have followed him all his life.

Instead, he finds Joe (Bobby Cannavale) -- a hot dog vendor with the personality of a golden retriever, who is completely unfazed by Fin's taciturnity -- and Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), a middle-aged artist whose heart is locked tight with grief after the death of both her child and her marriage. A slow crack in Fin's shell of solitude begins in the moment when Olivia makes the request that he's kept bottled inside himself for years: "Would you mind not looking at me right now?"

In the end, buoyed by Joe's unapologetic love for life, both Fin and Olivia find out that sometimes getting what you want isn't what you want after all.

This quiet gem of a film was a hit at Sundance a few years ago, and now lies buried amid the older releases at Blockbuster. It's worth uncovering.