Peter Dinklage in THE STATION AGENT

Hey, kids. Guess who got invited to the WGA's special screening and Q&A with star Peter Dinklage last night? Yes, the doctor was in the house. I only mention this, because it looks as if there may be more free movies for yours truly in the future, and want you to be assured that this will not effect what an absolute merciless dick I am when it comes to reviews on movies that would cost you actual money.

You may have already read a few freebie screenings of mine, some of which were of movies I bashed like a redheaded hooker who was charging blonde rates, so don't worry -- I'm still an asshole. "The Station Agent," however, was a good movie, and there's just nothing we can do about that.

Patricia Clarkson very well may be the sexiest middle-aged white woman working in film today. Demi Shmemi, lose the plastic and there would be consequences. Clarkson's performance in writer/director Tom McCarthy's "The Station Agent" is the stuff that reminds us acting actually is a profession.

Not to undermine any of the rest of this beautifully told tale of human loneliness, as this is easily one of the best films of the year. The story is one of Fin McBride (the excellent Peter Dinklage), a train-loving dwarf who inherits a financially worthless train station in Newfoundland (nowhere), New Jersey after his one and only friend dies. Fin is a guy who is used to being laughed at, which has made him one to keep to himself -- period. Unfortunately for him, the station is his only place to go now, and it happens to be the parking spot for a loud-mouthed hot dog vendor named Joe (Bobby Carnavale) who is always hungry for conversation. While avoiding Joe and walking along his own path, Fin is nearly run over by Olivia (Clarkson), a grieving mother who has come out to Newfoundland to also be alone.

As the paths of these three magnificently normal people intertwine and end up on the same "track," all that becomes easier and easier to do is relate to them. In the end, the story's moral of being grateful for what life gives you is more than true, it's poetic and fashionably subtle. These are not characters, they're people, and their purpose on the screen is to remind us that we all are. No one person in a crowd has never felt lonely, and anyone who has knows that true friendships come out of the places where the crowd doesn't reign. Kudos and biscuits to everyone who spent their time making this work of art.