At 88 minutes long this film is fairly short, but due to its subject matter – a collection of lonely souls finding each other – the film seems more substantial.
Essentially “The Station Agent” is a comedy, albeit a rather dark or maybe merely dry one. The plot revolves around Fin (short for Finbar) who, when we are introduced to him, is working as a model builder in a model shop. Shortly into the story his employee passes away, and leaves to him a small amount of land including a station house in the depths of New Jersey.
Fin travels out to meet his inheritance and after a very small time becomes the focus of some local loners. Joe, who runs a coffee dispensary from a van, and Olivia, a artist who has been recently divorced. What is constantly in our mind, as the observer, is whether these people, who are outcast from society themselves, are drawn to Fin because he is an outsider himself. In Fin’s case it is made all the more blatant by the fact that he is a dwarf, so we are left wondering whether the onlookers are fascinated with him as a person or whether it is merely just small-town interest.
The whole film made me think of the genre which is so popular in France. That which is based around characters, not events. Overall the film is a comedy, often a dark comedy, with a few lighter moments. The clue to the whole episode is really in the title of the film, it seems Fin an agent of change, but he is also affected by the people he meets.
All in all a very well acted and directed movie, which has gained critical acclaim. The simple but effective cinematography makes New Jersey seem quite alluring. I note that this is Tim McCarthy's directorial debut, with a film he has also written, and that he recently had a role in “Meet the Parents”. It seems he has found a role for himself behind the camera as well as in front of it.
****1/5 (out of 5)
