Taglines: Made right here in the neighborhood.
“Queens Logic” is one of those films that suppose important life decisions are best made in the company of old pals, preferably pals who have lived and loved together over a long period of time. In this and other descendants of “The Big Chill,” contrivance demands that the friends reconvene on a ceremonial occasion. That event, in “Queens Logic,” is the scheduled wedding of Ray (Ken Olin) and Patricia (Chloe Webb), who are acutely mismatched. These two bicker a lot, but the film’s central love-hate relationship is the one between the borough of Queens and the rest of the world.
Queens itself, as embodied by the loud, hearty, toothpick-chewing Al (Joe Mantegna, happily making himself the life of the party) and all his cronies, is a safe haven with a language all its own. (“You tryina kill me, Ma?” bellows Carla, Al’s unhappy wife. “G’head, g’head.”) It’s a place where a guy can cruise cheerfully in his convertible shouting out unsolicited advice to anyone on the street. But for Al, Queens is also a humdrum job in the fish business and a miserable mother-in-law. The rest of the world, particularly Manhattan, is where Al and the others escape to indulge their dreams of meeting more interesting women and having a wilder time.
Tony Spiridakis, who wrote the film and also plays the only group member to have gained an actual toehold in Manhattan, views the Queens side of the story too fondly to let the characters’ restlessness really take root. So “Queens Logic” fans the flames of its characters’ dissatisfaction only to put them out again, which makes it more tidily circular than surprising. So many longstanding problems are solved in the film’s final scene that the abundance of happy pairings suggests Noah’s Ark. Queens patriotism is also reaffirmed, despite the many times the camera has gazed longingly at bridges leading elsewhere.
Luckily, “Queens Logic” has a big and eminently watchable cast, brought together for ceaseless partying and clowning. As directed by Steve Rash, who also directed “The Buddy Holly Story,” the film is loosely held together by high spirits and by a terrifically upbeat, well-chosen lineup of pop songs. (The additional music by Joe Jackson is also a great help.) The film is much better off simply indulging this festive spirit than it is in getting the characters to take themselves seriously.
The prospective newlyweds are Ray (Mr. Olin, with a few days’ perfect stubble and a heavy Queens accent) and Patricia (Ms. Webb, looking like a younger, slinkier Maureen Stapleton), an aspiring painter and a hairdresser who wants nothing more than to accommodate her future husband. “After five years of watchin’ him struggle, I still believe in him even when he don’t believe in himself,” says Patricia, indicating that women’s roles are not Mr. Spiridakis’s strong suit. In a similar vein, the statuesque, deep-voiced Linda Fiorentino, as Al’s angry wife, Carla, spends a long time having her hair dyed red and then presents this as a major personality change.
John Malkovich gives the film a welcome tartness as the shy, sarcastic Eliot, Al’s co-worker at the fish plant and a self-described “homosexual who cannot relate to gay men.” Mr. Malkovich is often droll, but Kevin Bacon, who arrives from California as the group’s long-lost musician friend, is saddled with the screenplay’s three most maudlin moments; still, Mr. Bacon brings the film a lot of energy. So does Jamie Lee Curtis, who appears briefly as a rich Manhattanite so carefree that she parks an unlocked red convertible sports car on the street. The singer Tom Waits also turns up, fencing jewelry and looking scary.
The film’s down-to-earth quality is best expressed through Hawaiian shirts, wisecracks about domestic violence and a scene in which Patricia expresses her annoyance at Ray by flushing a toilet while he is in the shower. Its contrived side shows up most clearly in the three awkward things Mr. Bacon has to do: tell Patricia he has always loved her, tearily admit that he isn’t such a big success in Hollywood after all, and regale the others with “that ‘Ordinary People’ song” — the Pachelbel Canon — at dawn.
Queens Logic (1991)
Directed by: Steve Rash
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Linda Fiorentino, John Malkovich, Joe Mantegna, Ken Olin, Tony Spiridakis, Tom Waits, Chloe Webb, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kelly Bishop
Screenplay by: Tony Spiridakis, Joseph W. Savino
Production Design by: Edward Pisoni
Cinematography by: Amir Mokri
Film Editing by: Patrick Kennedy
Costume Design by: Linda M. Bass
Set Decoration by: Marcie Begleiter
Art Direction by: Okowita
Music by: Joe Jackson
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: February 1, 1991
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