Review of The Station Agent (2003) by Lily G — 29 Apr 2013

It is rare a film has such investment in it's characters despite there appearance. Peter Dinklage's Fin could be anyone and although being a dwarf is apart of his struggle it in no reflects he's character or defies him as a human being.

In fact the same can be said for all three of the starring roles of this film; although I was disappointed that Bobby Cannavale's Joe did not have a completed arch unlike Olivia Harris performed with emotional detail and subtle angst by Patricia Clarkson or neither Fin and considering he's sick farther the film could have considered his role in the story a bit more.

That aside he is still a charming a wonderful character, the empty rail isolated world of far out New Jersey is filmed with beautiful attention to detail that compliment the characters isolation and misfit nature.

The film has been often sighted as "quirky" when, being used as a half arsed insult when in fact I don't consider this film to be in any way quirky, all these characters felt real to me and I believed everything that happened to them, nothing felt "quirky" or off beat, and I believe if this film was cast with hollywood standard actors it wouldn't be considered quirky at all, just a human drama about loss and friendship between unlikely people, and all the more for it.