Written, produced and starring Ray Romano. As I have mentioned numerous times before, this triple threat is not always what it's cracked up to be. Full control is not always a good thing, just ask Woody Allen, for example. You rarely realise your mistakes if all the people around you can only nod enthusiastically.
Stories of large and diverse Italian-American families are not new and Romano appears to be doing his best here to distance himself from a comedy past that people still love him for, so a good proportion of his fans are going to be left wanting with this sometimes poignant, very real story of a father living vicariously through his son as heads plans to go to University on a basketball scholarship.
Not coming from Queens, despite briefly visiting, I have no real idea of the authenticity of the characters, but the character arcs seem well-founded and realistic, even maybe bordering on stereotypical at times, but the performances are admirable, nonetheless, especially Laurie Metcalf, who plays Romano's long-suffering wife.
There isn't too much to get excited about during the run-time, being a very sensible, considered piece on family life and I had to watch it in two halves just to make it through to the end, due to the pacing being a bit of a grind.
For all of that, there is undeniable value here in the performances and the script and with patience, you might be able to take something from this.
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