Review of The Station Agent (2003) by Drago? C — 04 Jun 2015

Manic Pixie Dream Dwarf anyone? Tom MCCarthy's Station agent is a particular type of early 2000s movie, coming out about the same time as Garden State, Elisabethtown or Lost in Translation. Yet it surpasses all the above. Full of precise, simple visual cues and a milquetoast indies soundtrack it manages to create a fascinating atmosphere around its central character, a mysanthropic dwarf named Finn, played by the now world famous Peter Dinklage. Two hard working actors that never made the big leagues round off the central cast, Patricia Clarkson (recently of the Maze Runner) and Bobby Cannavale (of Boardwalk Empire and Chef, off the top of my head) and acquit themselves spectacularly of the task. Michelle WIllams (My week with Marilyn's titular character) provides a manic pixie dream girlish love interest.

The movie is fascinating in a dream-like way. The world director McCarthy builds, with abandoned rural Jersey stations, strange train model stores and trackside saloons seems like a world that exist in a fairytale but this is, in a way, a fairytale. It is a story about misanthropy and healing, and one that is both endearing and captivating without going in the obvious places that, say Garden State does.

A good overall watch, especially for people who want to see Peter Dinklage's true range.