[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up]
We’re at the time of the year for high school graduations where kids will go off to find their futures and find themselves. Parents will push them to want to do their best, but sometimes parents push their kids to do what the parents want them to do. In his directorial debut, Ray Romano gives us Somewhere in Queens about a family that has one shot to get their son out of a mundane future.
Leo Russo (Romano) and his wife Angela (Laurie Metcalf) raise their son in Queens among their eccentric family of construction workers. Their son known as “Sticks” (Jacob Ward) has been shy and awkward all of his life. However, it is in basketball that Sticks really comes out of his shell. He’s noticed by a college recruiter and this one small moment sets Leo on a domino effect of what happens if Sticks could get into college and be something. This is sidestepped a bit when it is discovered Sticks is dating Dani (Sadie Stanley) and is head over heels for her. Sticks will do anything, even sacrifice a possible basketball career for Dani much to his parents dismay (especially Angela who has some hilarious one liners to describe Dani). Leo has to choose on who to make happy: himself or his son.
I personally thought this was a fine movie! Romano really likes to center stories around the family dynamic and for good reason. He knows how to attract audiences who go to this with their families (as I did) and to see a story that could connect to others. Plus it’s always great to see Laurie Metcalf in a film role which doesn’t happen enough these days! One aspect of this film I really didn’t care for, but I guess it’s a big driving force is that of Sticks and Dani. Yes, they are teenagers and Romano explores what happens if teens break up…but they’re annoying. They are both one dimensional characters who go through minimal motions and emotions while the adults are doing all of the heavy lifting!
So, if you’re in the mood for a nice family drama here you go. Everybody loves Raymond and Laurie Metcalf and putting them together to talk smack about the world around them for the better of their son is a damn delight!
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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