Writer-director McCarthy takes us through this gentle story almost effortlessly, highlighting the little quirks in each character's personality without remotely turning them into offbeat rural stereotypes. These are real people, and it's thoroughly engaging to watch them learn to live around each other, and to learn not to be afraid to touch each others' lives. Dinklage is superb in the role, beautifully bringing out Fin's inner turmoil--years of discrimination that has led to mistrust. He finds it hard to believe that anyone could be interested in him for anything besides the fact that he's a dwarf. Meanwhile, Clarkson delivers yet another divinely attuned performance as the brittle, devastated Olivia; and Cannavale also finds real resonance in the too-kind Joe. The characters' isolation and the small town setting are beautifully captured in the writing and directing, complete with joys and frustrations, as well as subtle prejudices and understandings. This is superb filmmaking that really touches a nerve yet never manipulates or condescends to the audience for a second. It feels like a blast of fresh air in a cinema that's usually filled with mindless cynicism and contrived stupidity.