Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The Station Agent

In the film, The Station Agent, the three main characters in the movie all seem to be trying to find a new home in the sleepy, little town of Newfoundland, NJ, but they all have things about them that keep them from doing so. The central character, Fin, a dwarf who just wants to be left alone, comes to live in this quiet hamlet after inheriting the old, abandoned train depot from a recently departed friend whom he worked for in Hoboken, NJ. This new home seems ideal to him at first given its secluded location on the outskirts of town and the obvious connection to his fascination with trains, but soon he discovers that it’s not as quiet as it seems. The first to interrupt Fin’s little slice of loner heaven is Joe, a lonely – yet talkative – guy who is operating a food truck right next to the depot. Thanks to his outgoing nature, we learn pretty quickly that Joe is from Manhattan and is just “temporarily” helping out his dad who has become too ill to run the truck on his own. Next, we are introduced to the character of Olivia, who nearly runs Fin over with her SUV. Twice. In the beginning of the movie, we learn that Olivia’s son, Sam, passed away 2 years ago and later in the movie we learn that she is living in what used to be her family’s summer “get-away” in Newfoundland, NJ after leaving her husband and their home in Princeton, NJ. Both Fin and Olivia appear to be running away from painful pasts in their former hometowns, with Fin running from memories and resentment about how he was treated because of his dwarfism and Olivia running away from the painful memories of her son’s untimely death. Thanks in part to the unlikely hero of Joe, who works diligently to become friends with these 2 secluded individuals, we see how this unusual trio of people are able to form a strong bond of friendship that is able to help them all overcome their own personal hurdles that keep them from embracing tiny Newfoundland, NJ as home.

3 comments:

  1. Sarah I like the way you compare Fin and Olivia, their past. Even thought their stories are different from each other, but they both seem that they are running out from their painful past. I can say that all main characters are looking people that they can call family. That home is not about how big your house is rather than who is there with you.

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  2. Sarah, you know that fin was just think everyone was talk about him be a dwarf. Olivia had just believe in her mind that Fin was like her son because he is small and a dwarf that why she ask he want water and kiss him good night . She make her believe that but she get mad that end at Fin She find out that David is having a baby with another women .

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  3. Sarah, I like how you linked everything together with Joe. I didn't really look at it as if Joe was the missing piece from the puzzle, but you're right, it was mostly by Joe's doing that the three of them formed a friendship, but it also seemed to me that each character played a role in the bond between the three of them. Even Cleo had a part in it in my opinion! Your perspective on all of these movies and stories from class have really helped me to see things differently and understand them in a new light!

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