"Brooklyn Lobster" takes a close, careful look at a group of people dealing with major and minor problems in a rather unusual family business. Since it lacks contrived melodrama, I suppose it's vulnerable to the dreaded charge that "nothing much happens". However, I think a great deal does happen, although quietly. It's necessary to pay attention to appreciate what's going on, but this is easy to do thanks to a number of fine performances. Danny Aiello in particular does a great job in the central role, bringing out the strengths and weakness in the character and never crossing the line to histrionics.<br /><br />The film also does an excellent of giving the audience a sense of place, without ever turning into a travelogue. The only "I'm being taught about lobster farms" moment I had was when a character explained that they don't actually breed lobsters, which I thought was rather interesting. Other factual details emerge naturally from the story.<br /><br />I had read a few print reviews of "Brooklyn Lobster" earlier, so I was aware that some critics had been rather unenthusiastic. My reaction while seeing it was that if this had been a foreign film with a no-name cast, it would have been praised for "defying the canons of conventional storytelling" or something like that. It's certainly a film worth seeing, and goes on my personal top ten list for 2005.<br /><br />Due to a derogatory comment by another review on this site, I feel I should mention that I had nothing to do with this film, and don't know anyone who is connected with it.