Somewhere in Queens

Ever since I stopped using DVDs I know I've been missing out on independent films. The previews always turned me onto something else I'd want to see, but we don't have that so much with streaming. This is the kind of independent movie I worry about missing out on.

I'm SO glad this movie was available on Hulu. Its a film about a family, but not necessarily a family film. I cried, laughed and rooted for everyone in it. There were no bad guys in it, just people who loved each other that sometimes did the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Movies as sweet as this, without being saccharine, are few and far between. As someone who never watched his show and disappointed with his earlier movies, I actually now want to check out more Ray Romano stuff of the last 5 years or so.

Is this the most fun movie you'll ever see? No. Is it the most comedic roles for Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf? Not even close. Somewhere in Queens is, however, a different approach to showing just how deep family love can go. Right or wrong, funny, sad...real genuine love for family is a gift, and that is the true message here.

Somewhere in Queens is well-written, well-acted, and leaves you thinking about the several storylines days after seeing it. Family dynamics are always thought provoking, yes?!

To me, Sadie Stanley (a doppelgänger to Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You) is the standout here. Forget about her character Dani being the most grounded of all in the film, I found myself looking forward to her appearing on the screen. You're never really sure what Dani is going to say, but it's always with tons of heart.

This film is worth your time.

I've never been a Ray Romano fan, nor like movies even remotely about sports. However, I do love Laurie Metcalfe, and as an Alabama kid semi-adopted by an Italian family in Queens this one hit home. I'm giving it a 7 only because it will be near impossible to top Moonstruck for NYC Italian families- but this was touching and funny. Most importantly, no Transformers or super heroes, just a realistic family plot. Kudos to all the actors, and Dani was a standout.

I've seen some comments regarding language and the family dynamics- truth be told, this is the reality of an extended NYC Italian family. Don't come expecting a tv sitcom.

A little bit of everything, happy sad glad mad. Emotional for me ... a few tears, a lot of thought provoking and family dynamics, and in the end LOVE. Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf played roles different from their usual. Yes Ray had his comedy show but this was different for me. He showed a different side that took me by surprise. They were very authentic people with many complexities, It is the kind of movie I would want to watch again, to catch what I missed. To let it sink in even more the depth of it. I had read years ago that if you still think of the movie going home and thereafter, it is a story that has moved or effected you. The son and his girlfriend were very good, awkward and sensitive and sweet together. And for teenagers, very smart.

"I love youse both." A partier at the wedding-reception

Somewhere in Queens is about blue-collar Italians whose diction may be rough but whose hearts are the real thing. Director Ray Romano, not a stranger to playing a loveable schlub, is Leo, an outer-borough Italian-American father who works a little too hard at times to propel his basketball-adept son "Sticks" into a scholarship at a small college, Drexel, in Philadelphia. With some accuracy this dramedy has been labeled "crowd-pleasing." Just think Everybody Loves Raymond for the big screen with longer time to flesh out character.

Romano directs and acts with a strength and depth he couldn't have for a network sitcom.

Working during the day for his old-school dad (Tony LoBianco) in construction, Leo attends all Sticks' games, brags about him, and regales everyone all the time about scenes from Rocky. Leo's attention at the games hints at his need to be acclaimed where he'll never be by his family.

The family feel here is authentic Italian, from the pasta-heavy dinners with friendly shouting to family secrets sharing, peppered with love and "youse" and an authentic "Mangia tutti." As the shiest of the Corleone-like family, Leo has given this introversion to Sticks.

Quite differently, Thelma Ritter-like wife, Angela (Laurie Metcalf), after her breast cancer went into remission takes an extroverted hard line about husband Leo's gaffs and about Sticks' new love going south.

Sticks' fumbling his new love, Dani (Sadie Stanley), has all the earmarks of his Dad's ability to screw up the easiest plans. Indeed, when Leo begs Dani to stay with Sticks through the tryouts for Drexel, he's tripping right into his biggest fatherly mistake ever.

Although Leo regularly fumbles such as the wedding speech he asks the videographer to erase, his heart is always there and big as when he makes a decision about having an affair with an attractive widower (Jennifer Esposito as the year's best MILF). Even his mistake about his son's scholarship is rooted in love mixed with a bit of harmless personal gain.

See this low-key, soft comedy for a pleasant evening with the family if only to meet shy, big-hearted Leo. He's a loveable dad and husband and father. Just like Raymond.