How to Go Out on a Date in Queens

What a fun movie! I was having a rough day at work and literally the whole debacle of the dinner date made my evening. I loved how the director was able to weave such intense emotional responses amongst a lot of good humor. And I'm huge Jason Alexander fan anyways so getting to see him in that light was so much fun. Also Rob Estes was super sad the whole time- I just wanted to squeeze him! Also I have some relatives in Queens and the stereotypes they were poking fun at were actually quite life like. Its dangerous territory that's for sure. Seriously though I'd certainly recommend it for a date night- the chemistry between the characters was great.

I too, went out and rented this movie because of Jason Alexander and was woefully disappointed. The movie is a character driven piece with great actors---among Esai Morales and Ron Perlman, however, it's just boring. The back notes---"Love and Laughter Reign in Queens" of the DVD must be about another movie because even after a couple of beers watching this picture, I never laughed once. I also like the way they shot some of the movie in southern California to make it seem like they're in New York, but last time I checked, there weren't many palm trees in Queens. Unfortunately I am a stickler to watching a movie, no matter how awful it is, to the end. I couldn't wait for the thing to end. Alexander was 1,000 times funnier on Senfeild and if you are a Jason Alexander fan, do not watch this movie, it will ruin his following.

My boyfriend and I enjoyed this star-studded films, with strong performances from the actors, even the smaller supporting roles.

I love all the comedic moments with the splash of cute romance.

I am a little confused why people are complaining about the performances. Rob Estes was hilarious and his freak-out scene in the restaurant made us laugh so hard.

As an actress, I know how hard comedy is to block out and nail down the specifics for, and then act as though everything were unplanned and react spontaneously. The cast really succeeded in surprising me (and it looked like themselves too, which is a delight to get to watch).

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.

This script is terrible. The plot makes no sense. The characters have zero depth.

But if you watch the whole movie, you will learn that good actors are worth whatever they get paid.

Jason Alexander's character is just as poorly written as the others. His dialogue is just as dumb as the rest of the script. But his scenes are at least mildly interesting because he knows how to play a character and is able to sound like a human being.

Most of the rest of the cast can't meet this mark. There are one or two reasonable attempts. Allison Eastwood is fine. Rob Estes does not embarrass himself. But anyone else in the cast is trying a little too hard to sound a little too Noo Yawk and they don't know which syllables to accentuate or how to express a feeling other than mild exasperation.

(Ron Perlman is a pro of course too, but he barely speaks and at least one of his lines is laugh out loud funny but not for the right reason.)

I don't know if Alexand and or Pearlman were working off a debt or paying back a favor but this reminds me of Sir Ben Kingley taking the part in Christopher Moltisanti's Cleaver. IYKYK.