Dir.
Thomas McCarthy, 2003, USA, 88 mins
Cast:
Peter Dinklage, Olivia Harris, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Williams, Paul Benjamin
Transport is a good euphemism for life. You wait for a bus and then three come at once, or that train you used to catch everyday suddenly doesn't stop at your station anymore. So The Station Agent neatly offers us a microcosm of life's experience in the story of a man born with dwarfism and his unlikely friendship with two people struggling with their own emotional issues. It's a quiet and unassuming film, dominated by an outstanding lead performance from Peter Dinklage.
First time director Thomas McCarthy developed the script for The Station Agent with his theatre friends Dinklage and Bobby Cannavale in mind, whom he had worked with on stage. McCarthy's experience as a theatre actor (he has also starred in movies, including Meet the Parents) is evident and the film comes across as closer to a play, restricted to a few locations and essentially a three-hander between Dinklage, Cannavale and Patricia Clarkson, including only a handful of peripheral characters. The passing of time is minimal, the action understated and the real bones of the story is found in the relationship that unfolds between the main characters.
McCarthy said he was inspired to make The Station Agent after discovering the film's primary location - a disused station building in Newfoundland , amongst the New Jersey countryside where he grew up. He tracked down the owner and even went to railfans' meetings to watch trainchasers' films of train journeys (that's film of the train not the view). He confesses to being influenced by Sidney Lumet which also explains his theatrical presentation, evident in Lumet's single location, character based films such as 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon and Murder on the Orient Express.
Finbar McBride (Dinklage) works in a model train store (called the Golden Spike, presumably after the model train collector's store of the same name in New York) for ageing boss Henry Styles (Benjamin, who appeared in Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes). When Styles unexpectedly dies, Fin discovers he's inherited an old disused train depot. A little man of few words, Fin goes to live in the hut opposite a hotdog van run by the verbally incontinent and hyperactive Joe Oramas. Peace broker between the two is middle-aged artist Olivia Harris who buys coffee from Joe. Olivia and Joe try to befriend an unsociable Fin who prefers to read train timetables than make conversation.
Through these three characters McCarthy weaves a somewhat predictable but infinitely likeable portrait of human insecurity. Joe is every American high school jock and desperate for friendship ("No we're closed!" he shouts to some kids who want to buy a drink, "But I'll play soccer with ya!"), Fin is the classically reserved male dealing with discrimination and marginalisation, and Olivia the woman on the verge of mid-life crisis dealing with death and marriage breakdown. The axis of the film is train enthusiast Fin's sudden removal from his habitual everyday existence at the store to the familiarity of a stationmaster's depot, combined with the unexpected friendship of strangers. Where once his life was as predictable as the 5.15 from Central Station, it is now derailed and making new connections.
Evoking scenes of Stand By Me as Fin takes his daily walk along the railway tracks, the film is a grown-up rights of passage where the adults find a kind of solace in each other's company, Joe forcing Fin to be a bit more adventurous and Fin helping Olivia to talk about her fears. However, this soul-searching never quite moves on to anything more than that and possible relationships for Fin are hinted at but not followed through. Although McCarthy tries to show Fin as a sexual person and make him attractive to Olivia and librarian Emily (Williams), he shies away from letting Fin have more than a kiss. "I don't want to talk about it," is all Fin can say to Joe when asked if he's ever had sex with a "regular sized" woman. Potential story-lines are frustratingly introduced and not followed through, like why Styles bought the depot in the first place, and characters like little girl Cleo and Emily remain ungrounded by family or their own living environments.
What McCarthy successfully manages to do is make a film (in a mere 20 days) where the lead character is someone visually very different but who carries the responsibility of the film on his shoulders like Atlas. Dinklage's composure, delivery and simply the sound of his voice give great weight to his on-screen presence. What is also refreshing is that The Station Agent is about much more than the politics of dwarfism. Dinklage's size comes second to his characterisation and acting ability and the role could have been played by someone of regular height with minimal changes to the story.
Winning awards at many film festivals, including a BAFTA for best screenplay and a handful of awards at Sundance including best screenplay and drama, The Station Agent looks on course to gain a following, and has the kudos of being produced by Robert May who was executive producer for Best Documentary Oscar winner The Fog of War. Patricia Clarkson continues with the self-contained and salty performances seen in Far From Heaven and Pieces of April, and gives the film class, like a very expensive bottle of wine at a picnic. Ultimately, this tale of locomotive leanings contains some very funny and surprising moments, and manages to stay on track for most of its journey only running out of steam towards the end.
Rebecca Kemp
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