The Station Agent

A while back we watched the Thomas McCarthy movie Win/Win and enjoyed it immensely. In learning about McCarthy we learned about this film, an earlier effort of his, that as his first movie was received very well by the critics.

All of the positive reviews of The Station Agent prove to be nothing more than absolutely correct. This is a fantastic movie. Small in scope but with a quietness that belies how much impact it can have on a person.

Peter Dinklage plays Finbar McBride. Dinklage, for those who do not recognize the name is a little person. After performances in Elf and over the last couple of years with a major role in Game of Thrones Dinklage now has reached such stature that he is now an actor who happens to be a little person rather than a little person who is an actor. He is a brilliant actor.

In the movie Fin is a reclusive, hermit like man who works at a hobby shop. With a love of trains his life is made up of his relationship with his tactiturn friend and boss and a train aficionado group to which he belongs.

His life is changed when his friend dies, and the hobby shop closes. Fin is left however, as an inheritance a small piece of land with an old train depot on it. With no other opportunities seeking solitude Fin moves to Newfoundland, New Jersey to take up residence.

Seeking to be alone he soon finds himself immersed in the lives of Joe, a Cuban American man running a snack track while his father recovers from illness, and Olivia a woman separated from her husband after the sudden death of her child. Throw in a little African American girl who shares Fin's loves of trains, and Michelle Williams as the town librarian who has a problem she has to deal with and you have some acting performances that are not to be forgotten.

Nothing is forced in this movie, it comes at its own pace. Patricia Clarkson as the grieving mother Olivia offers a performance that you can feel the pain dripping from. In watching the movie and seeing the unlikely friendship develop between Joe, the fast talking, always upbeat and chatty, Cuban American, Olivia, the distraught mother, and Finn, the quiet lonely man who just happens to be a dwarf, I told my wife this movie might illustrate better than any I have ever seen how many lonely people there are in this world, that on some level each of us is hurting or hurt.

I cannot reccomend this movie highly enough.

Game of Thrones Season Two

A couple of months ago when the second season of Game of Thrones was airing I wrote here that I was not pleased with the second season. As the story proceeds and many multiple story lines are moving along I found it hard to follow.

Simply put I was premature in my criticism. Over the last couple of weeks my wife and I have watched the last seven episodes of Season Two, we had them tivoed, and the show has been stunning. I have come to the resolution that this is not a show that I can watch once a week, it just has too much going on.

In the future my plan will be to watch all 12 episodes in a short period.

So much is going on it is really not possible to write about it. With seven different people vieing for the throne nothing is close to being resolved.

Some highlights and things to look forward to. The sitting King Jaffrey, product of his mother and uncle's illicit romance has turned into the character you most want to see get his comeuppance. Peter Dinklage as the King's dwarf uncle is perhaps the most complex and likable character in the show.

We have the North Guard the keepers of the wall, Stark's bastard son John Snow is part of the guard and now on a mission beyond the wall chasing wildlings.

We have the dragon lady with her three young dragons which she birthed in fire at the end of Season 1.

As the last episode of Season Two ends we finally see The White Walkers everyone talks about. They do exist and they are on the move.

Bring on Season Three. I still wish they would cut back on the sex that in most places is extremely gratuitous. However this might be the most complex, best done show on television. It is well worth watching, but it is not a show you can half watch. You have to invest to keep up.