The Station Agent
“We don’t have to talk, we can just eat … I’m cool with that.”
When I first heard about this movie, and it was after seeing Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April so I knew that I should’ve been more excited than I was, for whatever reason, the urge to see it never quite got strong enough. Well, finally, I found out what I was missing, and why I should’ve been so excited. This movie is just beautiful.
Peter Dinklage and Patricia Clarkson are, of course, brilliant; but it’s the supporting cast here I felt compelled to keep my eyes on – Bobby Cannavale, Michelle Williams, and Raven Goodwin, the little girl always roaming in the background. It’s the lines like this, though:
“I’m pregnant – I haven’t told anyone yet – you don’t have to say anything, I just wanted to say it.”
and exchanges like this:
“Do you have a garlic press?”
“No!”
“How can you not have a garlic press?”
“It’s still no!”
and scenes like when Joe tries valiantly to quietly read with Finbar … Ultimately it’s about that (might be surprising to some) common thing, people not understanding the simple concept of other people just not wanting to talk, to interact even, with other people sometimes. It’s incredible that Thomas McCarthy has captured such a seemingly uncinematic thing on film so well. It’s even more incredible how he turns it towards the end, ultimately showing both how good a thing silence can be but also how dangerous it can be too, and how beautiful a thing just one or two good friends can be even to the seemingly most stony of hearts. And the snapshots are so poignantly brief … sharing jerky on an abandoned railway bridge, standing up to welcome someone out of hospital … it’s amazing how much is crammed into less the 90 minutes. I haven’t even mentioned the laughs.