Exporting Raymond (Phil Rosenthal, 2010): USA, Russia

Film reviewed by Jim Burns. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2011.

Exporting Raymond is an intelligent and funny documentary that follows Phil Rosenthal as he travels to Russia as he attempts to assist a group of Russian writers, actors, producers and a less than friendly television executive in the production of of the Russian version of Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005). Phil Rosenthal is the creator of the hit series Everybody Loves Raymond, and in this documentary he gives the viewer a hilarious first- hand view on what it was like as he tried to make sure the Russian version of his hit show was as successful and funny as his American version.

Right away, it becomes apparent that cultural differences will be his biggest obstacle in making sure his show and vision is properly translated. There are some very funny unplanned moments between Phil and the Russian crew that had been chosen to produce the show. Phil Rosenthal was able to capture these hilarious moments live as they were happening because he chose to have two cameras rolling at all times, instead of the usual one camera approach used in many documentaries.

In watching this documentary, it is easy to see that Phil Rosenthal is a naturally funny guy who doesn’t need a script to find comedy in every day life. In scene after scene, he stumbles from one hilarious moment to another, and it is easy to see that the character that is portrayed by Ray Romano in Everybody Loves Raymond is actually based on Phil and not Ray as most people would probably expect. His behind the scenes dealings with many different people that have a completely different view and approach to television production provides some of the funniest material of the film.

The funniest material of this film actually comes from the parents of  Phil Rosenthal, who were the inspiration of the two characters portrayed in the American version of the series. They are as funny, if not funnier than the two characters that were so brilliantly portrayed by Doris Roberts and the late Peter Boyle. In the scenes that they are in, they are completely uncontrollable and you can instantly see the natural comedic dynamic Phil Rosenthal has with his parents. During the Q and A session, Mr. Rosenthal mentioned that during the production of Exporting Raymond, that he constantly shared e-mails with his family and that they found extreme humor in his daily suffering and it was through this that he realized that this film has the potential to be very entertaining. Exporting Raymond was by far the best documentary that I viewed during the Santa Barbara Film Festival.