FILM REVIEWS

Sundance Film Festival 2003 (World Premiere)–The only film in the dramatic compeition to receive two awards was actor Tom McCarthy's impressive feature directorial debut, “The Station Agent,” an emotionally engaging fable that Miramax picked up for distribution during the festival due to the huge buzz–and standing ovation–at the film's very first showing.

The film won the Audience Award (a good indicator of how the film will perform in the marketplace) and the Jury's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Prize,

“The Station Agent” is a charming fable centering on three misfits and oddballs: a lonely dwarf (marvelously played by Peter Dinklage), an angry divorcee who tries her hand at painting (Patricia Clarkson, who currently can be seen in Todd Haynes' “Far From Heaven”), and a Latino hotdog vendor.

Each character carries a chip on his shoulder (the dwarf refuses to be treated “differently” than other humans), and needs to overcome his isolation and alienation. In due time, the trio learns the true meaning of friendship and community in the most unlikely place, an abandoned train dept in rural New Jersey.