Ray Romano is within the director’s chair for the primary time for Someplace in Queens. The film doesn’t have any flashy filmmaking, however the story is honed in on a single and really sturdy theme. The movie additionally marks Romano’s first time as a function screenwriter, and whereas the script, which he co-wrote with Mark Stegemann, isn’t any masterpiece, it feels true to life in a manner that can get below one’s pores and skin and keep there. With Laurie Metcalf coming off the bench to co-star, the whole supporting solid involves really feel like Romano’s precise household in a manner his iconic sitcom didn’t.
Leo (Romano) and Angela (Metcalf) reside in Queens with their anxious but proficient son Sticks (Jacob Ward). They’re surrounded by an enormous Italian American neighborhood and Leo works for his household’s development enterprise. A lot of the household pays little to no consideration to Sticks, and solely Leo is aware of his son is a star basketball participant within the making however is simply shy. When Leo and Angela notice Sticks has a girlfriend, it hits them that possibly he’s doing simply high-quality. Nonetheless, the remainder of the household needs him to affix the development firm. When issues begin to go sideways for Sticks, Leo intervenes the place he shouldn’t, exposing himself as extra determined than he cares to confess.
Someplace in Queens falls in a protracted line of stand-up comedians transitioning from stage to tv earlier than lastly directing a function. For some comedians, that apex would possibly appear like Invoice Burr in The Mandalorian; for others, it’s Chris Rock writing, starring, and directing in High 5. For Ray Romano, directing actually is the ultimate frontier, as he gained mainstream success from Everyone Loves Raymond and has been in two Martin Scorsese initiatives. In contrast to a lot of his contemporaries, Romano will not be writing his biography, however relatively patching collectively characters from the neighborhood he grew up in to fill within the soul of a script he wrote.
The supporting solid of Someplace In Queens is among the movie’s biggest strengths. This isn’t precisely a feel-good film — at the least not till the very finish. For probably the most half, these characters are inflicting stress and pressure for everybody they encounter. However it all clicks and the primary solid elevates that strain. Sebastian Maniscalco (The Tremendous Mario Bros. Film) provides a delicate however efficient dramatic efficiency as one in every of Ray’s brothers and Everyone Loves Raymond alum Jon Manfrellotti provides a equally low-key however memorable flip.
Someplace in Queens begins off as Ward’s film however slowly turns into about Romano’s character. This transfer is somewhat bumpy and there is a case for the movie being barely longer. Sticks’ basketball arc is compelling and there may be nearly a sports activities film hiding within the first act, however the time spent with him is break up between college, sports activities, and love, with the latter being the script’s foremost focus. Within the second act, Sticks’ girlfriend, performed by The Goldbergs’ Sadie Stanley, is the baton, passing the story from Ward to Ramano. The story gadget that will get the plot so far is maybe probably the most fascinating a part of the screenplay, however the inconsistent quantity of screentime for Ward thereafter makes the transition somewhat rocky.
Someplace in Queens is finally a well-made household drama with laughs sparsely positioned all through. The solid is crushing it and the script is as gritty as it’s candy. Romano’s path works effectively, and each division is on the identical web page. Household dramas are usually not briefly provide, however Romano’s imaginative and prescient is restricted and has a decent sufficient focus to be satisfying.
Someplace in Queens is now taking part in in theaters. The movie is 106 minutes lengthy and rated R for language and a few sexual materials.