Somewhere in Queens

Somewhere in Queens

Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son 'Sticks' finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.

  • Released: 2023-04-21
  • Runtime: 106 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Drama
  • Stars: Ray Romano, Laurie Metcalf, Jacob Ward, Sadie Stanley, Jennifer Esposito, Deirdre Friel, Jon Manfrellotti, Erik Griffin, June Gable, Sebastian Maniscalco, Tony Lo Bianco, Adam Kaplan, Katie Kreisler, Franco Maicas, Jennifer Simard, Danny Garcia
  • Director: Ray Romano
 Comments
  • francisco-personal1 - 15 February 2024
    A Beautiful Film
    I grew up around Italians. In 1971, my mother remarried and we moved to Elmhurst, Queens, not far from where Ray Romano grew up. When I was 9 (in 1973), I moved to Long Island, one town over from where Ray placed his TV family. We were in the last house on a dead end street. Next door to us was an Italian family. One of the four children was my age, so we went to school together. I remember the first time they invited us to Sunday dinner and we went at 3:00, so I love that scene. Much later on in life, I married an Italian woman. I've known every character in this film and heard many of the conversations depicted in this film. For a directorial debut, Romano hits a grand slam home run. So much attention to detail. Such a profound understanding of the human condition. Nothing seemed forced and nothing seemed fake. What a gem of a film. Well done to all.
  • trinaboice - 1 November 2023
    The actors don't look like slick Hollywood celebrities, but instead, like real salt-of-the-earth people.
    IN A NUTSHELL: The story is about Leo and Angela Russo who live a simple life in Queens, New York, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son "Sticks" finds success on his high-school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.

    Actor, comedian Ray Romano knocked it out of the park with this thoughtful family drama as the director and the co-writer. He also stars in it! Everyone DOES love Raymond! (Are you a fan of that popular TV show?) His writing partner was Mark Stegemann. Well done, boys.

    THINGS I LIKED: The cast is superb and includes Academy Award & Emmy Award winner Ray Romano, Oscar-nominee Laurie Metcalf, comedian Sebastian Maniscalco, Jennifer Esposito, Tony Lo Bianco, Jacob Ward, Sadie Stanley, and more.

    Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf work so well together. They illustrate the perfect push and pull of a marriage that has gone through challenges in life, yet they're still together, trying to keep their vows and evolve through life.

    Sebastian Maniscalco is such a natural, so I'm thrilled that his stand-up comedy is taking him to the Big Screen. In this film, he has a very small role, but if you're a fan of his like I am, check out his new movie called About My Father where he's the star.

    With all of the high-tech, superhero movies with loud sounds and flashing lights, it's nice to watch a movie about real people just living life.

    The dialogue is realistic.

    The actors don't look like slick Hollywood celebrities, but instead, like real salt-of-the-earth people.

    Wonderful soundtrack.

    I love it when movies reference other movies. In this movie, Ray Romano's character quotes lines from the movie Rocky. The camera also quickly pans those famous steps that Rocky runs up and down in Philadelphia when certain characters visit the city.

    I loved the poetry element of the story.

    All of the characters are deliciously flawless. We get to see each of them learn and grow together. Beautiful.

    I absolutely adore movies that have carefully presented seemingly insignificant lines or moments that turn out to be important in the end, wrapping them all up with a clever bow. This movie does just that.

    THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: I don't enjoy the constant bickering and loud screaming, yet I also recognize that's the delightfully dynamics of many Italian families.

    TIPS FOR PARENTS: Profanity and F-bombs A lot of talk about intimate relations Talk of cancer.

    !
  • brentsbulletinboard - 28 June 2023
    More Satisfying Than a Big Bowl of Pasta
    Genuinely funny family comedies - those without rampant silliness, obnoxiously cynical, smart-mouthed kids, and saccharine-encrusted coatings - have become a rarity in recent years, but, fortunately, this debut feature from actor-writer-director Ray Romano has breathed some new life in this genre. This film about a blue collar New York construction worker (Romano) follows his loving efforts to help out his painfully shy but gifted 18-year-old son (Jacob Ward) earn a college basketball scholarship in an effort to help him stave off a future that's likely to be disappointingly identical to his own. However, despite his earnest, heartfelt gestures, he ends up creating more issues than he bargained for, some of which threaten to saddle his tight-knit Italian family with more headaches and hurt than expected. The result is a delightful though far from sappy offering very much in the mode of comedies they generally don't make any more. The film is chock full of hilarious one-liners from a smartly written script that's executed with snappy direction, steadily paced editing and fine acting, especially in the award-worthy performance of Laurie Metcalf as the athletic prodigy's mother. The picture also presents one of the best send-ups of New York Italian family life since "Moonstruck" (1987), raucous without becoming riddled with stereotypes. To be sure, a few story threads could have been better cut out or scaled back, but, on balance, "Somewhere in Queens" serves up a charming, entertaining offering with a number of unexpected twists and turns to keep the material fresh and lively. The film may not have received much fanfare with its limited theatrical release earlier this year, but, thankfully, it's available for streaming online and more satisfying than a big bowl of pasta. Abbondanza!