Review of The Station Agent (2003) by Jennifer X — 15 Jan 2009

I don't think people give simplicity nearly enough credit these days. Awards shows shun them, critics exploit them in order to make a point but then forget about them the next day, normal people don't even know about them.

This film isn't about anything but the unlikely friendships that spring up among a town of solitude, trains, and hot dog stands. No other immediate themes spring up and McCarthy doesn't want to make it any more complicated than it already is superficially.

It's about comfortable silences and delicious beef jerky and the madness of train chasing. The characters are so natural and comfortable in their uniqueness I can't describe this movie in any word but charming.

But not in the quirky self-satisfied charming of jazzy indies, in the charming that seeps into the roots so ingrained in the DNA it is nothing BUT charming.