Review | ‘Somewhere in Queens’: Love and heartbreak, Italian American style

The story’s protagonist — a lovable sad sack named Leo Russo, adeptly played by the filmmaker — is fond of quoting pearls of wisdom from the Rocky franchise as though they were lines from the Talmud. With his brother Frank (Sebastian Maniscalco), his uncle Pete (Jon Manfrellotti) and other relatives, Leo toils for a construction business run by his father (Tony Lo Bianco).

But his pride and joy is his son Matthew (Jacob Ward), known as Sticks for his long legs, a talented high school basketball player for whom Leo begins to harbor vicarious dreams of an athletic scholarship — rather than a job in the family business, as is expected — after a visit by a talent scout (P.J. Byrne) triggers the hope that there could be a full ride for Matthew at a small school like Drexel.

Expectation (and its subversion) is everything in this sweet and observant dramedy, which sets up this overly familiar premise like a house of cards, only to knock it down with as much care and precision as it did in building it. The love language of the Russo family is shouting — one of several cliches deployed here — but Romano and his co-writer, Mark Stegemann, deftly deflate and dodge most other stereotypes, creating a funny and touching father-and-son tale about aspiration and finding your own path.

The monkey wrench in these well-oiled plot mechanics is Dani (Sadie Stanley), a classmate of Matthew’s who has only recently started to date the “quiet and weird” teenager, to use her words. Where Matthew is shy and awkward (like his dad), Dani is a voluble, even fickle extrovert — a firecracker, to use Uncle Pete’s term. But when the shakiness of the teens’ relationship stars to unravel Leo’s plans for Matthew’s ticket out of Queens, the father’s meddling, however well-intentioned, leads to a family crisis.

Other meaty subplots are thrown into this ragu, including the post-cancer worries of Leo’s wife (Laurie Metcalf) and a flirtation Leo has with a sexy widow (Jennifer Esposito), related to his own feelings of inadequacy, both on the job and at home.

Romano charms in the role of Leo, but the other main cast members deserve praise as well: Ward brings a shy, poetic intensity to Matthew, while Stanley adds nuance to a character — neither hero nor villain, but a bit of both — who could easily have become a two-dimensional device in service of narrative. Metcalf, especially, is at the top of her game, delivering both comedy gold and silver tears.

The screenplay is the true star here, smartly avoiding any arc of unearned redemption. Several characters, in fact, don’t get what they want — or, rather, what they’d get in a more formulaic, less genuine story. Neither, for that matter, does the audience get what it wants. If you’re expecting Matthew to sink the game-winning shot, to take the scholarship, to keep the girl — for everyone to end up happy or immediately forgiven for their transgressions — you might be disappointed.

Ultimately, “Somewhere in Queens” isn’t interested in what viewers want. But it ends up delivering it anyway, because the filmmakers know what we (and the story) need: something honest, something recognizable, something real.

R. At area theaters. Contains strong language and some sexual material. 106 minutes.