A man with dwarfism inherits an abandoned train station in rural New Jersey and moves there. Many of the neighbours view him as an oddity but slowly and surely he starts to feel at home.
Sweet, understated movie from writer-director Tom McCarthy, who would go on to write and direct Spotlight (and win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his efforts), as well as write Up. Warm and engaging drama with occasional wry humour.
However, while the journey is a pleasant, the destination is rather fuzzy. There's no profundity or closure at the end and it does a bit like a damp squib. This is not to say that movies have to have a powerful conclusion - plenty of films I've enjoyed have been about the journey rather than the destination - but in this case it does feel like a let-down. The movie is not that long anyway - less than 1 ½ hours - so another 20 minutes or so in order to wrap things up could easily have been accommodated.
Overall: good but could have been better.
Sweet, understated movie from writer-director Tom McCarthy, who would go on to write and direct Spotlight (and win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for his efforts), as well as write Up. Warm and engaging drama with occasional wry humour.
However, while the journey is a pleasant, the destination is rather fuzzy. There's no profundity or closure at the end and it does a bit like a damp squib. This is not to say that movies have to have a powerful conclusion - plenty of films I've enjoyed have been about the journey rather than the destination - but in this case it does feel like a let-down. The movie is not that long anyway - less than 1 ½ hours - so another 20 minutes or so in order to wrap things up could easily have been accommodated.
Overall: good but could have been better.