According to the synopsis, Somewhere in Queens is described as centering around a touching story: “When his son’s chance at a life-changing basketball scholarship is jeopardized, Leo risks everything, including ties with his overbearing Italian-American family, to give his son a shot at a different life."

In addition to Ray, the film was written by Mark Stegemann and also stars Sebastian Maniscalco, Tony Lo Bianco, Jacob Ward, and Sadie Stanley. So far, Somewhere in Queens has scored an 89 percent out of 100 on Rotten Tomatoes.

“I’d never written a screenplay and neither had Mark,” Ray shared with the New York Post. “I knew what I like to write about and it’s this type of movie — a small but effecting dramedy — and I knew that I wanted to write about this Italian-American working-class world which I lived in and grew up in and, even more, married into.”

The Everybody Loves Raymond alum then added, “The family dynamics and all the tradition you see in the movie are more from my wife’s [Anna] side, actually — Sunday dinner, the banquet hall — I’ve been married for 35 years and it’s been [like that] since day one.”

His approach seemingly worked, as Collider called Ray an “MVP in his directorial debut” upon reviewing the flick, also stating, “It’s very admirable — and refreshing — that Somewhere in Queens doesn't fall into the trap of caricaturing Italian clichés for comedic effect."

The review continues, "There could’ve easily been a number of expected, throwaway gags for a cheap laugh, but Romano smartly steered away from that. It’s a film that doesn’t feel the pressure of reminding the audience that it’s a comedy, which makes the story and the dysfunctional — but very loving — family that much more endearing and authentic to real life.”

Similar to Rotten Tomatoes, the outlet gave Somewhere in Queens an overall B rating. Somewhere in Queens is in theaters now across the United States and Canada.