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The Station Agent (2003)
Miramax Films, 1 hr. 28 mins.
Starring:
Peter Dinklage, Patricia Clarkson, Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Williams,
Raven Goodwin
Directed by:
Tom McCarthy |
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There are a few effective quirky
character-driven studies of cinematic human behavior that certainly rings
true and offers a refreshing and unconventional twist to the existence of
slightly angst-ridden participants. In director-writer Tom McCarthy’s
impeccably heartfelt and intimate charmer The Station Agent, we are
privileged to meet and greet the filmmaker’s offbeat universe of isolation
and alienation set against a landscape of wanting to belong within the
realm of acceptance. McCarthy’s personal drama incorporates traces of
off-kilter spryness highlighted with a mature and touching element of
sentimentality. It’s no wonder that The Station Agent garnered the
accolades it did at this year’s Sundance Film Festival by capturing the
Audience Award.
If anything, The Station Agent works so convincingly because of its
showcasing of capable actors that are willing to expose the vulnerability
and vitality of their characterizations and take the audience on a
soul-searching quest to find the tainted psyches that plague them beneath
the surface. McCarthy’s narrative is utterly charming, unassuming,
passionate and radiates a profound message of hope for those who only know
the meaning of despair. This film’s 4 foot 6 inch leading man Peter
Dinklage is indeed a solid and resilient peg that holds this poignant and
invariably witty story together with dignity and determination as this
lonely but diminutive dynamo that learns to accept his emotional growth
through the self-discovery of companionship.
Finbar McBride (Dinklage) isn’t the classic loner that you would
expect—he’s a dwarf who’s very self-conscious about his appearance. And
who can blame him when random folks, whether they be innocuously curious
or blatantly ignorant, stare him down like he’s some walking novelty act
looking to be exploited on the spot? In any event, Finbar toils alone
while at work as well as in his non-existent personal life. This poor guy
is transparent amongst his fellow human beings but nevertheless struggles
to gain a semblance of identity through the daily rut of his existence.
The one thing that Finbar is crazy about is his hobby for trains. Of
course his “passion” will foreshadow the outcome of what’s to occur
therefore giving the friendless Finbar McBride a whole new lease of
significance.
When a colleague passes away at Finbar’s job, he surprisingly learns of
the generous gesture that his late co-worker left him in an inheritance—a
train depot in New Jersey. Feeling somewhat liberated by this happening,
the anxious Finbar packs his bags and through sheer adrenaline walks a
tenacious long distance via the train tracks in route to his new acquired
property. Once Finbar arrives at his destination, he discovers what a
rundown and rotted out place this train depot is in its questionable
condition. Still, the man is positive and content to be there thus
settling in as quickly as he can. After all, this is Finbar’s new home and
he’ll make the best out of it at any cost.
Once we see Finbar McBride get his feet planted firmly, we begin to see
what makes this special individual click. The countless habitual ritual
this man possesses is typical and safe for him to methodically drown
within his predictable routine. Finbar engages in the redundant joys of
reading and studying old-fashioned trains. He avoids the pitfalls of
dealing with other people and saves himself from constant ridicule that
explains why Finbar likes to walk to certain places and not tolerate the
company of passengers through transporting. If Finbar McBride is an
introvert then it’s because of the societal pressure and the foul
indifference it presents to him unfairly.
One day, a Cuban-American hotdog stand owner named Joe (Bobby Cannavale)
abruptly insinuates himself on the cautious and anti-social Finbar.
Strangely enough, Joe is attention-starved and what better way to gain
some acceptance than to utilize a disillusioned Finbar and forces him to
relate to what amounts to be dissatisfaction between these two isolated
characters. But when a third wheel is added into the awkward mix thanks to
the arrival of loopy-minded but silent-grieving Olivia (Patricia
Clarkson), the threesome begin to form a sturdy triangle of trust and
revel in each other’s tattered company. Because Olivia is so innocently
wacky, she enables Finbar and Joe to come out of their protective shells
and allows them to open up and relish the sensation of being part of a
functioning trio that can cope with being socially competent.
Soon a couple of regular faces would pop up from time to time and resemble
a flexibility of human interaction for the tightly formed buddies. When a
black youngster (Raven Goodwin) isn’t stopping by to partake in the
loose-minded atmosphere, a low-key but attractive local librarian
(Michelle Williams) steps in occasionally and eventually finds herself
smitten with the confused and complex Finbar.
The Station Agent does have a familiar blueprint in that it chooses to
examine the uneventful lives of a collection of weary-eyed protagonists
wallowing in everyday stagnation. But even with this standby premise in
mind, McCarthy is shrewd enough to let this well-acted and well-written
fable flow with performers that know how to manipulate the audience with
their intriguing personas and the situational sadness that gives them some
common ground in their apparent suffering. Somehow, we never feel obliged
to offer these Station players instant pity but we do accept the emotional
damage that was inflicted upon them at one point in all their lives. After
all, who cannot completely identify with physically standing out and thus
being distinctively different from the judgmental masses such as bitter
Finbar McBride? Or how about being verbose and overbearing to the point of
demonstrating inner pain much like that of the chatty and clingy hot dog
handler Joe? And how about using this eccentric bouncy act to stabilize
the psychological scars of losing a child to death in the specific case of
Olivia?
Instinctively, McCarthy creates a durable world where vacant lonely hearts
can express their brand of misery through the sharing of mutual tragedy
and an impromptu kooky connection that ensues. Through the funny moments
and instances of psychological neediness, The Station Agent gently
presents the concept of disenchantment and tells a humble tale how flawed
yet lovable misfits can mend their lingering setbacks and turn it into
something as surreal as an unexpected treasure known as friendship.
Dinklage’s Finbar McBride is extraordinary as the little leader of the
“lost losers” and within that tiny body frame of his lies a cunning
concoction of charisma and conflict looking to ooze out in droves. As the
female fireplug Olivia who brings a cozy comfort zone to the unlikely
three-sided union, Clarkson is terrific and continues to show why she’s
such a talented and underrated actress working in contemporary films
today. Cannavale has an infectious and wily method of madness that
translates well with his talkative alter ego Joe.
Finbar McBride’s admiration for trains is very fitting because ultimately
he gets right on track and continues traveling along stop after stop until
he finds the one destination that is worth getting off and eventually
exploring. If one should abandon their cynicism in reference to the
inherent dysfunction of unpredictable mankind then The Station Agent is
the recommended train depot where you can purchase these endearing and
desired tickets. |
