Brooklyn Lobster

You can see why Martin Scorsese would choose to "present" this small-scale drama about working-class New Yorkers trying to hold onto their piece of the city's past. The Little Italy of the Mean Streets director's youth has been swallowed up by Chinatown at one end and tourist-trapped Nolita at the other. Alas, writer-director Kevin Jordan's second feature is slight, shambling stuff that features fine performances—particularly Aiello as a besieged lobster farmer trying to keep his marriage intact—but often feels like a holiday with relatives you never much liked.