VIDEO PICK SPECIAL.
You've all heard about the internationally famous Hollywood stars: Sean Penn, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Johnny Depp, Peter Dinklage, and how they—(sounds of screeching brakes). Hold on a minute! Peter Dinklage? Who the f*&@ is he? Well, for one, he's no pretender. Dinklage has done 18 films in the past 15 years. For another, he was nominated—along with the other gentlemen mentioned above—for the 2003 American Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Best Actor Award.
And you very well might ask, what's The Station Agent? It went in and out of theatres so fast it could have been Canadian. But in 2003 it won the Best Picture and Best First Screenplay in the IFP Independent Spirit Awards and a British Academy Award for Best Screenplay. And at SAG, The Station Agent was nominated for best ensemble feature along with those other notables—Mystic River, In America, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Seabiscuit. Pretty heady company. Thank goodness for video stores. You should find it in the first-run section.
Logline: A train enthusiast inherits a broken down station house in the remote New Jersey countryside where he can finally find the solace he desires. It doesn't quite turn out that way.
Peter Dinklage plays the enthusiast, Fin McBride. He's a dwarf. And the peace and quiet he seeks is in large part to be away from prying eyes. The station house (in the small town of Newfoundland) is a godsend to him as a refuge, not so much in that he's terrorized by the world—he's a capable and intelligent man—but more that he's tired of explaining who and what he is. He certainly knows and is more than comfortable in his own skin. So, what are the odds that he finds his solitude? It's good luck for us—and eventually, him—he doesn't.
A convenience truck operator sets up shop right outside the station house slinging coffee and burgers. He's a young jock tending the truck while his father convalesces. Bobby (Joe Oramas) is starved for someone to talk to and in his annoying yet affectionate New Joisey bluster, he doesn't take Fin's rebuffs personally. Hey, everybody has a bad day, or two, or three, but eventually they'll come around. And Fin does in a tolerating sort of way. Fin becomes large in Bobby eyes when the women Fin bumps into go for the little guy with the six-foot voice and sensitive eyes.
The woman of primary interest is Olivia (Patricia Clarkson). She's beautiful and patrician looking, but certainly flighty when Fin first meets her. Her erratic driving almost runs him over, twice. Sincerely embarrassed by making him hit the ditch, she tries to make amends. Fin's naturally not interested, but she prevails. Olivia is damaged by the death of her son, and instinctively she reaches out for Fin's sense of rationality and stability. She's not alone in her feelings. The young librarian (Michelle Williams) turns to Fin when she gets pregnant and a young girl (Raven Goodwin) wants him to come to her class to talk about trains. How Fin works out his relationships with these people—with their inherent ups and downs—drives the story.
The cast is uniformly excellent. Dinklage gives a wonderfully constrained performance. He is a dwarf playing a dwarf, but he's an actor first, if that makes sense. Enough so that I want to see him more. (Now I'll have to go and rent Elf. Dinklage plays the bitter storybook editor.) Clarkson, who has made over 40 films since the late ‘80s, brings depth to a difficult role. (She received a Best Supporting Actress nomination from SAG not just for her role here, but also for Pieces of April. She was April's pissed off cancer patient mother.) Oramas raises the pushy New Jersey homeboy above the stereotype. We feel his wants, needs and hurts. (His credits include Film and TV and notably stints in Oz, Ally McBeal and Third Watch.)
Of course, as noted by the acclaim, they all have a wonderful script to work with. If you're not in a big rush, the wait is satisfying.
