Alerts haven't been working since Nov 5th for me, so nudge me if I've missed a review and I'll take ...
Alerts haven't been working since Nov 5th for me, so nudge me if I've missed a review and I'll take a look :)
Member since:21.11.2005
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As the solicitor dealing with his boss's estate says, "It's pretty remote. There's nothing there. Nothing.". This is what persuades Fin McBride to move to Newfoundland, in New Jersey, having just inherited an old railway depot there. Fin, played by Peter Dinklage, is an avid train spotter who prefers his own company to that of others, and when his boss Henry, another train enthusiast who owns The Golden Spike train shop in Hoboken, New Jersey dies suddenly, Fin finds he has been left a derelict railway depot and a bit of land in rural New Jersey in the will.
The film portrays his life so far as having been pretty uneventful. The rub is that Fin has dwarfism and at the start of the film, we see him going about his daily life, with cruel jibes from local children asking him where Snow White is, and being ignored by supermarket cashiers because they can't see him over the counter. So he moves into the depot in the rural New Jersey, probably thinking he can put all that behind him and start afresh.
It is here in Newfoundland that we then get introduced to the two other
main characters in the film: Joe Aramus, who runs a hot dog truck outside Fin's new home, and Olivia, a painter who's introduction to Fin is by nearly running him over. Twice.
Fin doesn't let people into his life easily, but once we've been introduced to these characters, we watch as an awkward friendship develops between all three characters. We learn that Olivia, who starts as something of a dipsy artist has herself only just moved to Newfoundland and also keeps herself to herself. It emerges she is still grieving for her only child, who's tragic death she blames on herself. Joe, played by Bobby Cannavale, is a young hispanic chatterbox whose initial curiosity about dwarfism when he meets Fin leads him to become protective toward Fin and he endeavours to befriend him, much to Fin's initial chagrin. The only two other characters of note are that of Michelle William's character, Emily, who works in the local library and who's friendship we watch blossom and a young black schoolgirl called Chloe, who manages to convince Fin to give a talk to her class about trains.
As you might have guessed, this film is something of a slow burn.
Apparently, the film was written with Peter Dinklage in mind, by his friend Tom McCarthy, who also directed. Mr McCarthy is usually to be found on the other side of the screen, being quite a prolific if not well known actor. I have to say that for a film where nothing much happens, it kept me hooked. This was all down to casting and the script. Early in the film we see Fin attending a screening of a fellow train enthusiasts footage of a train journey and the man's commentary to go with the footage is thus: "This is us going into a tunnel. Yep, it was colder when we were in the tunnel. It was one of the darker tunnels in Canada.".
One of the most endearing scenes has to be where we see Fin walking home along the train track having had a bad day and drowning his sorrows in the local bar. He trips over and we see a train coming towards him, but Fin is flat on his back and can't get up. Resigned to death he waits. Being of such small stature has some benefits because he comes to out of his alcoholic stupor the next morning with not a scratch on him, we're lead to believe the train just passed over him without touching him. Highly unlikely in the real world, but Peter Dinklage's face when he realises what happened is a treat.
About the dvd:
It's a relatively short film at only 89 minutes long and has a 15 certificate, due, it says to some strong language. It's in widescreen format at 1.85:1 and is in Dolby Digital sound. When you reach the main menu the five choices are: subtitles (English and Italian); scene selection; audio set up (English or Italian); bonus features or simply play movie.
The bonus features are: (i) commentary with the director Thomas McCarthy and actors Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale; and (ii) five deleted scenes, which are:
1) Lunch 2) The roof (where not a word is spoken between Fin and his boss) 3) Henry's funeral 4) The morning after 5) Gorgeous Frank (the only scene featuring Joe's father).
These scenes are all short and although they're worth watching once if you've got the dvd, they're not necessary to the film.
Overall:
I might add that I got this dvd through Bananalotto (or Kingolotto I can't remember which) a few months ago as it seemed the best choice of those on offer at the time. I had not heard of the film before then, and so looked up some details from the Imdb website before choosing it. I wasn't familiar with either Peter Dinklage or Bobby Cannavale beforehand, and it didn't sound like the sort of film that I would normally buy. However, it drew me in, and I couldn't help warming to Fin, Olivia and Joe so it didn't disappoint me. Of all the characters, those of Fin and Olivia stand out as being the best drawn and evolving the most through the film, with Joe and Emily not really having as much scope with their characters which especially in Joe's case was slightly disappointing, given that he was one of the main characters.
Pictures of The Station Agent (DVD)
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You nicely captured the appeal of the film here. I liked it too - I will always prefer any film that stands or falls by its characterisation and acting, rather than relying on improbable plots and over-the-top action. Paul
Miramax Home Entertainment presents the critically acclaimed THE STATION AGENT, winner of ... more
numerous awards including the Audience Award for Best Drama at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Fin McBride (Peter Dinklage), a loner with a passion for trains, i...
Fin McBride (Dinklage) a loner with a passion for trains inherits an abandoned train ... more
station in the middle of nowhere - a place that suits him just fine because all he wants is to be alone. Soon after moving in he discovers his isolated depot is mor...
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Advantages: Some of the characters, it might make you think, it gets more interesting near the end Disadvantages: The start of the movie, the story just isn't quite clear enough IMO, the main character
IzzyS 26.04.2009 (26.04.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Station Agent (DVD)
Advantages: A truly wonderful film that is heart-warming whilst having real depth and humour Disadvantages: Peter Dinklage hasn't had nearly enough work come his way for such a good actor
Advantages: Some of the characters, it might make you think, it gets more interesting near the end Disadvantages: The start of the movie, the story just isn't quite clear enough IMO, the main character
IzzyS 26.04.2009 (26.04.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Station Agent (DVD)
![The Station Agent [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78503010.jpg "The Station Agent [DVD] [2004]")
Dec 22nd, 2008
(Jan 4th, 2009)
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