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The Station Agent

The Station Agent

Drama · Comedy · 2003

When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.

Movie details

The Station Agent

“Loneliness is much better when you have got someone to share it with.”

2003 Drama · Comedy 1h 28m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

When his only friend dies, a man born with dwarfism moves to rural New Jersey to live a life of solitude, only to meet a chatty hot dog vendor and a woman dealing with her own personal loss.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Station Agent?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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An unlikely friendship evolves over one wild night in LA between a struggling journalist and actor Hervé Villechaize, the world's most famous gun-toting dwarf, resulting in life-changing consequences for both.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Tom McCarthy

Written by

Tom McCarthy

Peter Dinklage

Peter Dinklage

Finbar McBride

Patricia Clarkson

Patricia Clarkson

Olivia Harris

Bobby Cannavale

Bobby Cannavale

Joe Oramas

Michelle Williams

Michelle Williams

Emily

Raven Goodwin

Raven Goodwin

Cleo

Paul Benjamin

Paul Benjamin

Henry Styles

J

Jase Blankfort

Store Customer

Court is in session

Put The Station Agent on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.