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Created Aug 31, 2014 10:44PM PST • Edited Sep 05, 2014 03:00AM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   The Station Agent can be thought of as a little movie about a little man, but should be thought of as a perceptive movie about a dignified man who rises well above his miniature stature. Peter Dinklage plays that man, all 4’ 5" of him, the movie being a study of how a dwarf makes his way in an often cruel world.

   It’s a charming little movie with a very appealing cast, focused on three lonely people, two of them lost. Dinklage’s little person is the one who isn’t lost, as he knows the effect he has on people and is resigned to his fate. Bobby Cannavale and Patricia Clarkson are the other two. Cannavale brings his trademark voluble charm, while Clarkson is quite affecting as a secretly sad woman. Together they explore how a dwarf copes.

   The Station Agent proved a breakout for both Dinklage and writer/director Thomas McCarthy. Dinklage would go on to star in Game of Thrones and X-Men: Days of Future Past, while McCarthy would go on to create Win Win and cowrite the perfect Up. This indie gem isn’t as outstanding as those bigger productions, but you can see how Dinklage and McCarthy got there from here.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

   Peter Dinklage is a revelation in a role that appears to be fairly realistic to the contemporary existence of a dwarf. Dinklage plays him as nobody’s fool, a cagey cool guy. Thomas McCarthy apparently wrote the movie for his cast, most especially his 4’5" leading man. Bravo!

   Bobby Cannavale is such a likable motormouth, it’s a surprise he hasn’t exploded into leading man status. He did go on to partner up again with Thomas McCarthy in Win Win.

   Patricia Clarkson is by turns daffy, sexy and touching as a well-to-do woman who develops an odd relationship with a dwarf. Clarkson is a consummate supporting actress.

   Bit Players

   • Paul Benjamin as a gruff shop owner with a big heart
   • Raven Goodwin as a sweetly inquisitive little girl
   • Michelle Williams as a townie with a secret
   • John Slattery as an angry ex. Four years later, Slattery’s career would skyrocket with MadMen.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Very Good 3.5

    Thomas McCarthy’s film drolly explores various life challenges that a 4’5" man endures in society. It does so in the context of train fanatics: model trains, train watching, etc. Within that odd subculture, McCarthy deftly frames the path that an otherwise normal guy must walk because his bones didn’t grow sufficiently.

    This juxtaposes a ridiculous subculture with a dominant culture that is prone to ridiculing people who look different. Well drawn irony, that.

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Good 3.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 1.7

    The hard thing to watch is how people can be thoughtless and heartless when they encounter someone with a deformity, in this case dwarfism.

17. Sex Titillating 1.6

18. Violence Fierce 1.6

19. Rudeness Salty 1.9

21. Reality

    Glib 1.3

22. Circumstantial Glib 2.0

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0