The Station Agent

A great story about the necessity of friendship and the pains of isolation, Peter Dinklage is first-rate as Finbar, a dwarf who has taken up residence in an inherited and abandoned New Jersey train depot. Weary of people’s eyes always upon him and saddened by the death of perhaps his only friend, Finbar resolves to keep to himself in his new home, but some of the townspeople of Newfoundland, N.J., won’t take no for an answer. Patricia Clarkson is Olivia, struggling through a divorce and grieving the loss of her son. After nearly running Finbar over on a country road, she forces her companionship upon him. Bobby Cannavale is winningly funny as Joe, manager of a hot dog truck that is parked in the business dead zone next to Finbar’s depot. Writer-director Thomas McCarthy’s film is a pure pleasure, with Dinklage, Clarkson and Cannavale all worthy of year-end award considerations.