A Lobster Tale

It's a story we've seen before: a family that's down on their luck stumbles upon something unexpected, but their sudden good fortune produces its own can of worms. There are very familiar themes and story beats - hard work, school bullies, capitalist temptations, learning what's most important, and so on and so on. I'd swear we've even seen this same story in another movie with Graham Greene, pleasant and ubiquitous character actor that he is. It's more than a little predictable, for that matter, from start to finish. Still, if unremarkable, 'A lobster tale' is solidly made, and enjoyable enough.

It's well made from a technical standpoint; everything about the production design is smartly considered, and every little detail that goes into making a movie is on point. The music is fine, and the direction, and the minimal special effects. As far as the writing goes, we've seen all these characters, lines of dialogue, scenes, and story beats before - but it's okay. If we can get a new exorcism flick every few years, and if major studios can churn out 3-4 superhero movies in a year, why not a recognizable family-friendly drama every few years?

It's fair and valid to deduct points for lack of originality, though in fairness, if originality were a great concern for movie-goers, far more pictures would bomb at the box office every year than not. More substantial than this, however, the chief criticism I have with 'A lobster tale' is that the entire length is painted with the same even-handed tone. No matter what the mood or content of any one moment may be - (low-key) suspenseful, heartfelt, humorous sad - all these 90 minutes feel identical. There is no rise, no fall; no crescendo, no climax, no denouement. It's competently made in every single way, except for that it fails to meaningfully resonate on any level.

This is particularly unfortunate because I recognize strong capability in the cast, not least of all star Colm Meaney, but their performances are almost uniformly reduced to a single shade of grey for the entire runtime. That hardly seems fair to them, or to we viewers. None of this is to say that this film is bad; on the contrary, I like it more so than not - but only just. It's just that given a choice between 10 pictures with the same narrative, there's no specific reason why you should choose this one, save for that you're an especial fan of someone involved in the production.

'A lobster tale' is a decent way to pass a lazy afternoon, if you happen to come across it. Just don't feel like you need to go out of your way for it.

Cody Brewer (Colm Meaney) is a struggling New England lobster fisherman. His waitress wife Martha (Alberta Watson) feels ignored. His son Jake gets picked on. They have a three-legged dog. Cody finds a fluorescent green moss in one of his traps. When the motor cuts off his finger, the green moss provides magical healing. When friend Rusty suffers a devastating burn, Cody uses the moss. Soon news of the magical moss spreads in the small town.

This is one fish tale that could use some more cinematic surreal magic and a faster pace. There is a bit of good dry humor but it's only mildly amusing. Colm Meaney is as good as ever. There are no natural comedians but everybody is a good actor. The sheriff's investigative skills are rather funny. The laidback nature slows the movie down but it has a nice charm about it. It has a couple of heartfelt stories and some light dusting of humor.

A serious low budget film about what a miracle can do to simple normal people.

I loved every part of it. The ending was exactly how I pictured a true to life experience in the same situation.

Characters evaluate themselves and find the true meaning to giving and receiving. The message in this movie is not hard to see....

It's hard to find other movies that are true to the soul, like this one is.

Don't get me wrong, the movie also has some humor that keeps it fresh and exciting as well. I highly recommend the movie to anyone looking to sit back and relax in front of the television.

The film ending is worth hanging in there for and as a wise old man once said "if it's worth doing, it is worth doing right!" A Lobster Tale was done right!

This is a story about a simple lobster fisherman named Cody Brewer (Colm Meaney) who struggles to provide for his wife Martha, (Alberta Watson) and his son Jake (Jack Knight). There are so many clear messages for any and all families reminding us what is really important in life. Cody Brewer whilst pulling up one of his lobster traps in a remote fishing cove, accidentally cuts off the end of one of his fingers and in an attempt to stop the bleeding he uses some moss that was inside his lobster trap. As the moss is placed on his bleeding hand, this is when we see the first (folklore) miracle. A bright light emanates and miraculously Cody's missing finger is now intact without any noticeable scar.

No one initially believes Cody's magical miracle moss until gradually some of the small town's residents witness further miracles happening with Cody's magical moss right before their naked eyes. Then one day shortly after the secret of the magical healing moss is made public, Cody's glass jar of the magical moss is stolen from his home. When Cody calls upon the town Sheriff (Graham Greene) to investigate and find the thief the Sheriff meticulously eliminates one suspect after another.

The interactions between the town Sheriff (Graham Greene) and Cody Brewer (Colm Meaney) are invaluable to us the audience. The Sheriff's wisdom and more importantly his simple advice he relays to Cody is priceless not only to Cody but to us the audience. Pay attention to the Sheriff's free advice because if you do, you can avoid "having one more problem" than many of us really could avoid if only we heeded the Sheriff's advice.

I give this family filled (folklore) story a solid 8 out of 10 rating

I saw A Lobster Tale yesterday at the Phoenix Film Festival. It is a terrific film. Colm Meaney, Alberta Watson and Jack Knight are fantastic. There is a great performance also by Graham Greene who was a perfect choice as the sheriff. It is a nice warm family film with a great message...yet has the laugh and cry moments too. I hope it gets picked up for distribution. Highly recommend it! If you are fan of Jericho/the TV show...there is a pivotal role in Lobster Tale played by Erik Knudsen who plays Dale the young store owner on Jericho. I had the pleasure of meeting the director, Adam Massey after the screening for a Q & A. He is one to watch out for, he will be making some great films in the upcoming years.