While mulling away about what films I wanted to review on this site, I first thought about making the reviews exclusively new release orientated but I realised that life and money wouldn’t allow, so I’ve decided to review a selection of films both new and vintage. Films that I feel make a good discussion points about the nature of film. Films I feel offer something to think about, even the ones I haven’t particularly enjoyed watching. I’d like to be able to explore the reasons why I dislike a film as much as talk about the ones I’ve loved.
I thought it would be fitting to make my first review be of my favourite film from which the name of this blog comes from. 2003’s little gem of a movie, The Station Agent starring Peter Dinklage (of Game of Thrones fame). This film had a lot to with determining where I wanted to go in life. It is for me a little film with a lot of heart.
I stumbled across The Station Agent in my first job as Library Assistant in a small town in Kent in 2004, where I had been struggling to find something to watch that I either hadn’t already seen or been traumatized by (the opening of Irreversible, I look at you). The film intrigued me because it had completely bypassed me. I had read next to nothing about it and certainly didn’t remember a release in any cinemas near me (well the lone multiplex near me). I was initially put off by the title; did I really want to watch a film about trains? Was I really that deprived of fresh film material? But then I recognised the face of Peter Dinklage from my American Independent cinema phase of 2000 where I tried to watch all the 90s films of Steve Buscemi. Peter Dinklage had been the face of many of Buscemi’s independent film troupe including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jennifer Beals and Alexandre Rockwell. That was enough to make me take that baby home and I have never looked back.
(Fun fact: The Station Agent is the only full price DVD I have ever purchased which proves my love of this film…to me anyway)
(Another Fun fact: I lived and interned in New York in 2008 and my office was on the same street as the home of Mr Dinklage. I would see him every morning and would forever be star struck. I think he initially thought I was staring at him because he’s a dwarf, he demands people address that, but it was actually because I couldn’t believe the star of my favourite film in the world was in touching distance…every…single…morning. I think he got used to me because we ended up exchanging morning pleasantries. He figured I was a harmless crazy)
Anyway back to the film. It was love at first sight for me and for a long while I couldn’t articulate why. To be honest, it was a bit of a non-story. There was no particular plot other than what was laid out in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Dinklage plays Finn, a solemn disconnected dwarf whose only friend a fellow train fanatic and colleague in a toy store who leaves him an abandoned train depot when he dies suddenly. Finn decides to move to the depot and live the rest of his days in solitude but is his plans are hampered by the people he meets including Joe, a talkative truck food vendor (Bobby Canavale), Olivia, a grieving artist (Patricia Clarkson) and soon to be love interest Emily, the young librarian (Michelle Williams).
This seemingly short film consists of Finn trying his best to be left on his own, eventually losing out in his attempts and developing relationships with these people. When describing the plot to people I was trying to encourage to seek the film out, I would often be met with many a blank stare. It wasn’t until I was able to plonk people down in front of the TV or too small laptop screen and got them to watch it did people fully understood what I meant by how good this film was even though not much happens.
I now know that the success of the film lies in the characters and the acting. In recent years I’ve realised that this is what has linked my all time favourite films with each other. Well-written and well-portrayed characters. For me personally, no matter how ludicrous or fantastical the story or basic and everyday life-y like the Station Agent, I’m much more willing to go along for the ride if I can relate to the characters. I don’t have to like them but I can recognise something in them. They could be people I have met, worked with, dated etc. Basically I like it when characters are human. They are flesh and bone. I think that actor/director Tom McCarthy is a maestro and creating such flesh and bone characters that have realistic and honest relationships with one another. (Please check out his other films, The Visitor and Win Win).
I was having a discussion with a theatre director the other day about how some film directors have taken to adopting theatre techniques of character workshops to get actors fully enveloped in their roles. Like Blue Valentine for instance, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams apparently would come to work everyday for something like three months and would live together like a married couple before filming and Emily Blunt and Rosemarie Dewitt did the same to get that sibling relationship across on screen just right for Your Sister’s Sister and for a long time I thought this was the method employed by McCarthy because all the relationships and interactions are so tonally perfect. However, listening a while ago to the commentary, I don’t really think that this film had the resources or the time. By the sound of it, this film was a hard sell for McCarthy and Co and the film only happened due to the risk and free work offered by friends and family of the cast and crew. This was a real passion project for all concerned and it is evident in the finished film, from direction to the performances.
Speaking of performances, I would like to take a moment now to acknowledge how fantastic Peter Dinklage is in the movie. His stature may be small but his presence is great. This is also remarked upon in the commentary. I think it is Patricia Clarkson who plays Olivia who notes that Dinklage is able to set the pace of the film by just being there and she is absolutely right. In fact, although he is the main character, he actually probably has the fewest lines and he doesn’t need them such is the force of his presence in the film. He sets the pace by creating the pauses and stops necessary in the film but never makes the film drag to a halt. He really employs the mantra “Show Don’t Tell” perfectly here.
All the other performances are great too from the comic injection of Bobby Canavale’s Joe to Michelle Williams’ sweet turn as Emily (I loved how the tiny scene in the library completely captures the atmosphere of working in a small town library). I think here was where I saw Williams’ great potential moving gracefully from Dawson’s Creek to where she is today.
I can’t forget to mention the great direction from McCarthy who seems to be able to make what in other people’s hands might end up being a slow dogged movie, a sweet breezy but meaningful film. The film only runs for 89 minutes but feels surprisingly shorter. My only criticisms of the film where I do feel it gets slightly bogged down is surprisingly when the director attempts to inject drama, particularly the bar scene near the end, where Finn behaves out of character. I still think this scene is unnecessary, nor adds anything to the story. In fact it nearly derails the tone that has successfully built up throughout the film and the delicate characterisation in Dinklage’s Finn. But as the scene is relatively short and leads to what I think is the perfect ending for the film, I see it as a slight hiccup in what is otherwise for me anyway a near perfect film.
The day after first watching this film, I decided that writing in film is where I would like to be. This film gave me the courage to write the characters and stories that I thought nobody would be interested in. The critical reception of this film (although should not measure the true success of a film with regards to how a viewer personally experiences the film) did allow me to realise that while grandiose stories and bigger than life personalities are fine but there is welcome room for the story of the every man like the Station Agent. In addition, its own unique story of how it got made has since often reminded me of the power of persistence and belief, which continues to motivate me to write. I re-watch the film periodically as both a pick-me-up and a boost of inspiration for times when I’m feeling far from inspired and it reminds me that without the inspiration, persistence and passion that McCarthy & co needed in abundance to overcome the closed doors and obstacles in making The Station Agent, one of my favourite films would not exist.
I don’t need to ask for you to check this film out. But please do. It might not be your favorite film of all time like me but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Please note: the trailer is not fantastic so don’t let that put you off!
THE STATION AGENT SPEAKS 