Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

There’s a fine line between friendly curiosity and nosiness. When a new person arrives on the scene, one wants to ask questions to get to know him, but it’s sometimes difficult to know when one has crossed over into prying territory.

The situation becomes even dicier when the new person in question is “different.” In that case, one has to be worry about being insensitive and bigoted in addition to being too nosy. On this week’s episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” , Larry, the clueless, white main character offends his black neighbor Wanda by asking her about the differences between black and white men in the bedroom. Is Larry ignorant and tactless? Certainly. But, is he racist? It’s debatable.

Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage), the protagonist of The Station Agent, is a little person. At 4'5" tall, he has had to deal with inquisitive stares and giggling whispers for as long as he can remember. Sometimes, people call out things like, “Hey, where’s Snow White?” Other times, clerks can’t see him, as his head doesn’t quite clear the counter at the convenience store.

Even though he has a wonderful relationship with his boss at the model train shop where he works, negative people experiences dominate Fin’s consciousness, and he tries to spend as much time alone as possible. His one social outlet seems to be the train enthusiasts club where he belongs. The members of the club spend a lot of time train chasing—driving alongside trains with a video camera while excitedly describing the train’s features. Fin can’t drive, nor does he have a camcorder, but he sits in the darkened room, enjoying the films. He wears a white shirt and black trousers every day and maintains a stoic expression, but there is clearly a lot of pain behind his staid appearance.

What The Station Agent lacks in plot, it makes up for in symbolism. Of course, the main images are of trains, so we know the film is about a journey. However, this journey is mainly metaphorical, as the characters don’t go very many miles. Fin starts out in Hoboken, New Jersey, but when his boss at the train shop dies and leaves him an abandoned train depot thirty-three miles away in Newfoundland (thank you, MapQuest), Fin makes his way there on foot. As much as he loves trains, it’s unclear whether or not he’s ever been on a moving one.

Fin gets run off the road by an SUV a couple of times, and he almost gets in a fight, but if you’re looking for action, you’re looking in the wrong place. The Station Agent is about loneliness, loss, trust, and is a character sketch more than anything.

Although he initially just wants to be alone, living in the depot, Fin falls into the traditional role of the Station Agent, the link to everyone in town. In the old days, the Station Agent delivered mail, greeted visitors, ran a shop, and even cut hair. While Fin doesn’t set up a salon, he becomes something of a confidante for the local hot dog seller (Bobby Cannavale), librarian (Michelle Williams), a lonely artist who is dealing with the death of her son (Patricia Clarkson), and a young student (Raven Goodwin).

Olivia (Clarkson) seems drawn to Fin because he is childlike, but he is also very serious, hardened, and old-fashioned. Joe (Cannavale) thinks that Fin is quite the ladies man when both Olivia and Emily (Williams) spend the night in his depot, but Fin seems almost asexual. Joe starts to ask Fin about his sexual experiences with average sized women, but Fin stops him before Joe gets to the inevitable question. The women in Newfoundland trust Fin because he seems non-threatening, and Olivia loves him in a motherly way. Young Cleo (Raven Goodwin, a role similar to the one she plays in Lovely and Amazing) thinks Fin is her age, since she doesn’t understand the concept of dwarfism.

Fin, Olivia, and Joe become a most unlikely trio, united by loneliness and, eventually, complementing and improving each other’s lives. Both Fin and Olivia claim to enjoy being alone, while Joe, who is taking over his sick father’s hot dog truck business, carries on about how bored he is away from New York City. (Why he has set up shop near an abandoned train depot is never explained. He doesn’t exactly have a nose for business.) Joe is as garrulous as Fin is taciturn. When they first meet, Fin thinks that Joe is mocking him, which is understandable, since Joe is probably the friendliest person on the planet. He provides most of the humor in the film and is a truly fabulous character.

Olivia has all the technology and luxuries in the world, but she is still deeply unhappy, while Fin can be content watching trains and walking the rails. The scenery is gorgeous, but the film moves at the pace of a leisurely walk.

I can’t decide if it was ironic or apt that I saw The Station Agent on the same day as FOX’s The Littlest Groom. Dinklage, who also appeared in an exploitative role in Will Ferrell’s Elf, gets his chance to shine in The Station Agent. I assumed that FOX was using Littlest Groom Glen as a sideshow, but my mom thought the show was, in fact, inclusive. Why shouldn’t little people get a chance to find love on national television alongside big fat obnoxious people, stupid people (Joe Millionaire), and superficial egomaniacs (The Bachelor and Bachelorette)?

Maybe progress isn’t such a good thing after all.


Recommended: Yes

Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older