Queens, a borough of NYC, has an intriguing sub-culture, if this movie is accurate. It aspires to being as "hip" as Manhattan but doesn't quite get there. In this tale, Artie (Rob Estes) is a top tier auto mechanic and body repairman, still in rather deep depression after losing his wife two years ago. The front office man at the shop, Stan (Brian Dillinger) is a know-it-all who has been dating, as he says, for 16 years and wants to set Artie up with a blind date. Artie resists until he sees a dove land on a car. Believing it to be a sign from heaven, Art agrees to meet a friend of Stan's current girlfriend, Amy (Kimberly Paisley-Williams). Before the big event, Stan overloads Artie on how to make the date a success. But, when the foursome actually meet, things don't go very smoothly. Artie does have eyes for the bartender, Karen (Alison Eastwood), as the night moves along. Meanwhile, the restaurant manager, who longs to plan a wedding, is upset that her fiancé, Frankie (Esai Morales) is going to bet their wedding money on the Superbowl. Finally, a two bit gambler, Johnny (Jason Alexander) is in deep debt to the Russian mafia and may have only one hope of repaying them before they make him suffer the "ultimate interest rate". This terrifies his lady, Ann Marie (Christine Dunford) who wants to marry him. Henchman Vito (Ron Perlman) may be on his way to find Johnny. How will romance thrive in Queens? This interesting film has a good cast, a unique locale, fun accents, well-chosen costumes, a competent script and so on. No, its not a light-hearted romantic comedy, as one might suppose. However, there are amusing moments, amid some very touching and very scary ones. Those viewers who like the offbeat flicks will most likely want to make a date with Queens.
