The Station Agent is one of my favorite films. It is beautifully shot, well paced and full of interesting characters, well acted. It was Tom McCarthy’s first film and won a slew of awards including the Cassavetes award at Independent Spirit for films made for less than $500k. I was so impressed with what a filmmaker could do for less than a million dollars when everyone in LA seems to tell you it’s not even worth trying for less than $10 million.
I was definitely looking forward to McCarthy’s second film, The Visitor. Even in the trailer you could feel the slow deliberate pace, beautifully shot, interesting characters, great music and again, no big stars. At least no big American stars. The lead, Richard Jenkins was on the cable TV show Six Feet Under but I think most people would see him and think, where do I know that guy from?
The Visitor won Best Actor for Jenkins, Best Supporting Actress for Danai Jekesai Gurira and Best Directing for Tom McCarthy at the recently completed Method Fest. Method Fest is named after the famed Russian acting coach — and Method-acting innovator — Konstantin Stanislavsky and states that it is the only film festival in the United States that focuses on acting.
Filmmaking is a collaborative art form and excellent films are the ones where everything comes together. It doesn’t matter how great the acting is if the story doesn’t work or the film is poorly edited. Everything can feel off if the casting doesn’t support the overall feel for the film. The SAG awards only honor actors as well and while on one hand I appreciate the gesture on another, how does it differ from the Golden Globes or the Oscars or any of the other award ceremonies leading up to those events? The results are almost always the same. No one ever honors an amazing performance in an otherwise acknowledged horrible film. Then I might understand the purpose.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against awards. At the festival level it’s fantastic when your film or someone on your team gets recognition for their work on a film. It’s also great to get the chance to thank your team publicly for their hard work. Maybe that’s the best part of awards, the chance to say thank you.
I thought it was great that they created an award for Amy Adams at Sundance for her performance in Junebug. I doubt she would have gotten the Oscar nod without it. I thought the ensemble award for In the Bedroom at Sundance was great as well. But lots of other things worked in these films as well.
I guess my point is, can you really have a festival or an awards show that purely recognizes only acting?
I did love The Visitor. I wasn’t as blown away by it as by The Station Agent and there are a lot of similarities between the lead characters. I think the biggest difference is I had no expectations with The Station Agent and everything about it was a surprise and a delight. I had lots of expectations with The Visitor and it didn’t disappoint. There’s a lot to be said for that. I continue to be a huge fan of Tom McCarthy’s and look forward to his next film.
By the way, Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre! was the Audience Award Winner for best short at Method Fest.
