Remember Ray Romano? He’s Now ‘Somewhere in Queens’

In the late 1990s, actor/comedian Ray Romano created, along with Philip Rosenthal, the TV show “Everybody Loves Raymond” loosely based on his family life. Airing on CBS, the comedy ran for nine successful seasons, winning the “Outstanding Comedy Series” Emmy award twice. This particular fan loves it when an episode airs in syndication while he’s visiting his parents, relishing the joy the show inspires in his mother and father and noting ruefully how the family on screen mirrors the one watching. The situational writing remains clever and the marital themes are as relevant today as they will be as long as the institution exists.Making his debut as director, Mr. Romano’s latest project is the movie “Somewhere in Queens,” a congenial dramedy he co-wrote about, again, an Italian-American family, only this time they live in the titular borough and not on Long Island like the sitcom. Other differences turn up as well, with the film format allowing for hints of darkness to seep in along the edges of the movie’s familiar confines. One aspect that remains from his time on “Everybody Loves Raymond” is a commitment to writing female characters who are just as cranky, complex, and compelling as their male counterparts — possibly even more so.The movie begins like any Italian-focused production worth its salt: with a celebration. We are introduced to Leo Russo (Mr. Romano), his wife Angela (Laurie Metcalf), and his extended family as they attend the wedding of a local couple from the neighborhood. Leo’s younger brother Frank mocks both Leo (for his ineptitude) and his son Jacob (for his reticence), establishing the larger family dynamic quickly. This dynamic extends to Leo’s place in the family business, with Frank the foreman of the small construction firm their father runs while Leo is just another worker. Matters are just as sour at home, with Angela testy and withdrawn, as she fears the return of breast cancer, and their son as uncommunicative as we’re told he’s always been. One bright spot is Jacob’s success on the high school basketball team, and when Leo and Angela go to games, they enjoy reserved prime seating spots on the bleachers.When a college athletic scout notices “Sticks” (Jacob’s nickname), viewers may anticipate where the movie might be heading. The immediate Russo family does make a trip to Philadelphia’s Drexel University to check out the school’s sports facilities in the hopes that Sticks blooms into a normal, social young adult, one who has more prospects than working in the family business.Yet “Somewhere in Queens” isn’t interested in inspirational/aspirational clichés. Instead, the filmmakers focus on the son’s girlfriend Dani to set up a tricky emotional manipulation plot mirroring many a romantic comedy, though the one doing the deceiving, in this case, is being egged on by a parent.In a pivotal scene midway through the movie, Leo asks Dani, who has broken up with Jacob, to continue seeing his son for a few weeks as a way to boost his confidence as he competes to get into the college’s coveted basketball program. The father recounts his son’s tentative social development, how Sticks has always been quiet and shy, and how playing basketball opened him up a bit. The role demands Mr. Romano be both emotionally transparent and minutely manipulative, and, despite his limited range as an actor, he pulls it off. The same duality of character in Leo can be seen in the other main characters, and it’s this conflicted quality that gives the movie a real sense of moral quandary. All this talk of emotions and morality might make the reader think the movie isn’t very funny. Yet it is, and loudly so. Throughout, Leo amusingly quotes from the “Rocky” movies like they’re the bible or Shakespeare, and anecdotes, at times dirty, from supporting characters like his co-workers had me happily guffawing. Some of the funniest lines are given to Laurie Metcalf, and she excels, as she always does, as the sometimes coarse, sometimes achingly acerbic Ange. The movie’s exploration of the relationship between fathers and sons is a welcome subject, acknowledging as it does the fragile mental state of many modern young men. One scene in particular reflects the movie’s sensitive approach to this theme: Leo’s own father, after earlier learning of his son’s machinations to keep Dani with Jacob, tells him that Jacob is lucky to have him as a dad. It’s a short moment filled with hurt, since it’s clear Leo never received much love from his “pop,” and yet it also brims with hope, though his father’s back is turned toward him the whole time. In moments like this, “Somewhere in Queens” could be “Somewhere Everywhere.”

Remember Ray Romano? He’s Now ‘Somewhere in Queens’

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