Director Thomas McCarthy neither wastes his time nor fills his screen with words. The dialogue in The Station Agent is brief, but powerful. Some of the most remarkable scenes of the movie are left to an enthralling silence, which carries the film along at a gentle, yet seductive pace.

Although the movie was made for less than five hundred thousand dollars, a relatively modest sum in the film world, it does not suffer in the least from its small budget. For the most part, the sets are sparse, but they serve to reflect the characters' personalities and mindsets. The best example of this is the train depot that becomes Fin's home. The fact that it is unpainted and barely furnished does not concern him. His interest lies not in its external appearance, but rather in the life that has flourished within the depot and...