Somewhere in Queens: Ray Romano At His Best

There is a reason why a lot of actors also make really strong directors. Talented professionals like Rob Reiner, Ron Howard, Greta Gerwig, Bradley Cooper, Jordan Peele, Jodie Foster, and Jon Favreau have managed to translate their on-screen abilities to behind the camera and created some of the great works of American cinema. As the latest actor to make this move with his film Somewhere in Queens, Ray Romano transitions to director smoothly and delivers an intimate work that has as much charm as it does drama.

Somewhere in Queens follows Leo and Angela Russo (Ray Romano and Laurie Metcalf) as their son (Jacob Ward) is about to go to college on a basketball scholarship. As a breakup with his girlfriend (Sadie Stanley) threatens to derail his son’s potential future away from the family construction business, Leo takes it upon himself to try and save his son’s relationship.

Romano’s years working as an actor across shows like Everybody Loves Raymond and Parenthood really built a solid foundation of the fundamentals needed to translate his skills to directing. He has an eye for framing, knows how to pull interesting performances out of novice actors, and meshes the abilities of the newer talent with the abilities of more seasoned veterans they are sharing scenes with. That said, considering he also wrote the script there is definitely a slight issue with voice as every character has the same tinge one would expect from Ray Romano’s comedy stylings. It does not harm the experience to a great degree, however, it is noticeable in the same way it is in one of Kevin Smith’s early films, which to an extent is fine because this is his first outing as a writer and a director.

Laurie Metcalf continues to prove herself to be an incredibly strong dramatic actress, following her performance in Lady Bird
which does even out some of the issues with this film. In the same way that dozens of movies with the mid-life crisis/family paradigm shift plotline come out in a year, her performance and the comedy quirks of the movie do manage to elevate this above the rest to make it worth a watch. The emotional depth is there and it works well, mostly elevated by the acting performances and the viewer feels the second hand embarrassment as Leo tries to help reunite his son with his girlfriend.

Somewhere in Queens could mark an interesting career progression for Ray Romano and, while his directing skill will improve over time, this is an impressive starting point as he starts to move behind the camera and move into more dramatic material as a writer. As for this entry, it is worth a watch, although it may not necessarily be worth rushing to a theater to watch considering it will be just as entertaining to watch while sitting on the couch as it is in a theater. That said, a matinee is probably the best way to see it if one is going to see it in a theater.

Final Rating: 7/10