Geboren in Queens

Released in 1991, this movie captures a quality New York possessed in the late eighties. The characters seem genuinely capable of making the wisecracks the script has them make. They're middle-class urbanites who are capable of desperate violence. Yet, they are not particularly violent. They are haunted by the hardscrabble lives of their parents. The story involves a group of people in their early-to-mid-thirties. They've known each other since childhood. The plot is this: Will the scheduled marriage between two members of this group actually take place? While he is not the lead actor here, John Malkovich plays a character who embodies the dilemma each one of the characters faces. Each one wishes he were somewhere else and yet each one would give his right arm for anybody else in this circle of friends. Unlike his friends, he is gay, but what he has in common with them is the sense that the upper-class will have nothing to do with him. He is dating an upwardly-mobile man and his confrontation with him is still refreshing thirteen years after this movie was filmed. Many movies and TV series have dealt with this milieu, but very few have pulled it off. It is not entirely believable--there's an over-the-top story-line with Jamie Lee Curtis as a smooth-talker who enchants the edgy Joe Mantegna--but it's assertive. QUEENS LOGIC is well worth viewing.

Sentimental, nostalgic and supposedly authentic portray of some people and their relations with great music (Joe Jackson et al.) around a wedding under Hellgate Bridge in Queens. Anger, frustration and ideals reach the surface as we get to know these figures. One of them gives the advice: 'Wanna be happy for the rest of your life? Fall in love with your wife.' Probably the best advice a young man whose dreams don't come together can get.

Tom Waits was two years later in Altman's 'Short Cuts' that also deals with several relationships and has no plot. Short Cuts however is more solid and intelligent. This movie is not exceptional in any way, but I've seen it three times already because I think it's a nice movie with good acting about a day in the lives of some young people and that makes me feel good.

The chosen music tells about half of the story. That's a very good choice of director Rash, especially since there is no real plot. SO, if you're a person who needs a plot, then don't watch this movie. In that case try 'Chinatown' instead, or 'the Maltese Falcon'. Or kick in another open door :)

I don't understand why so few people like this film. But then again I also liked Jade (Friedkin, 1995) and Last Seduction (Dahl, 1994): plotfilms with suspense. Maybe it's just because I like common denominator Linda Fiorentino very much. There is no challenging intellectual material in Queens Logic.

8/10

Steve Rash's "Queens Logic" isn't a movie that most people will know, but it's worth seeing. The focus is a group of friends who get together in Astoria, New York, for one's upcoming wedding. Over the course of the movie, the characters reveal some surprising things about themselves, and at least one scene is bound to get your heart racing.

It's not a great movie by any stretch, further weakened by the fact that the director later helmed straight-to-DVD sequels to "American Pie", "Bring It On" and "Road Trip". Nonetheless, it's a fun movie that truly gives one a sense of New York. It's the sort of movie that you'll enjoy.

Queens Logic is an excellently written film about a bunch of late thirty somethings who are still trying to figure out how to get their act together. I worry that this film is only going to be accepted locally (i.e. New York, Long Island target audience) when it really has a multitude of universal levels to it. The acting was brilliant--absolutely brilliant, from Kevin Bacon to Linda Fiorentino, Joe Mantegna and John Malkevich. The actors really understood these complex characters (Malkevich is SO good once again it's scary). And the writing and direction could not have been better for these roles. Congratulations for writing a script with so many thoughtful, intelligent and original characters which reflect so well on the time and all of our struggles to figure out what it is that makes us happy--and to do it so humorously as well. This is one of those rare very smart and very funny films. Like I said though, people who are not necessarily from the New York area may not buy or believe these characters, but I guarantee you there are so many people like them. Guarantee it. They're great people with same problems as everyone else. They just choose to deal with them on their own terms and in the best format they know how: with Queens logic.

After watching Dogma for the umpteenth time on Comedy Central, I became a Linda Fiorentino fan along with others out there who wondered what happened to this promising actress since 2002. I have seen other films. This one shows that she can play a desperate housewife who can be both strong and vulnerable to her husband played by Joe Mantegna. Jamie Lee Curtis is underused in this role. Fiorentino and Chloe Webb's characters form a believable friendship on screen that I wonder why Linda hasn't worked in five years is a mystery to me. Anyway, it's an all star cast featuring besides Webb, Mantegna, and Fiorentino but also Kevin Bacon, Ken Olin, John Malkovich, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The storyline needs some work. I loved the scene where Carla steals the guys' clothes while they are skinny dipping in a pool. The movie is about a reunion of friends who get together for a wedding that may or may not happen anyway. I plead that Linda gets work soon again because she is really one of the best actresses out there playing strong women rather than weak and superficial.