Somewhere in Queens

Leo works for his father's construction company in Queens. His wife Angela has just finished treatment for cancer. The family is large; everyone on the same street and at the same table every evening. Leo has never stood out in it. His son Matthew plays basketball and is good; an offer of a college scholarship comes. For the first time in his life Leo has something to boast about. Then Matthew's girlfriend leaves him and the boy stops playing. Leo cannot accept it. He goes to the girl and asks her to come back. Then he offers her money. Ray Romano directs; he wrote the screenplay with Mark Stegemann and plays Leo. Laurie Metcalf plays Angela and Jacob Ward plays Matthew; Sadie Stanley is in the cast. It is an American production. It is Ray Romano's first film as director. The matter it treats is a father trying to make up for his own lack through his son. The narrative does not put Leo in the right; the further he goes the more damage he does. The family scenes are its best side; the crowded table and the constant interruption are realistic. The character Laurie Metcalf plays carries a line of her own and makes her own decisions after the illness. The film was announced as a comedy but the narrative is largely drama. The ending gives no large reconciliation. Its limit is scale; the narrative is small, there is little event, and the pace flat. Who it is for: viewers who like family drama and small scale American films. Who it is not for: it is slow, sad, and the ending quiet.