
Movie Views
June, 2023

SOMEWHERE IN QUEENS: 2023 (Seen in a real movie theatre!) Ray Romano is a triple-threat in this movie: He stars, directs, and he shares credit for writing. It is a debut directing job for Romano, who never directed a single episode in his world-famous sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. Leo (Romano) and Angela Russo (Laurie Metcalf) live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. The entire family meets for dinner every Sunday and those dinner scenes are priceless. So are the weddings, christenings, birthdays, confirmations, etc. in the Versailles Palace, where everyone in the neighborhood goes to celebrate. Leo works for his gruff father's construction company and has to deal with his brother as foreman. Leo is clearly not the favorite son. When their son 'Sticks' (Jacob Ward) finds success on his high-school basketball team, and has a shot at a college scholarship, Leo goes to dubious ends to help ensure his future. Metcalf imbues Angela with an Italian mother’s feeing that “no female is good enough for her son.” Gary and I saw Metcalf as a young girl just out of college when she came to Chicago as part of the Steppenwolf theatre, and we have followed her career with interest ever since. We enjoyed Somewhere in Queens and thank Holly V. IL for recommending the movie. We will have to go to theatres more often! GRADE B+