EXPORTING RAYMOND: to Russia with Phil

One of the world's great and enduring mysteries is why some comedy crosses international borders while some other humour gets turned back by immigration. Why do the French worship Jerry Lewis? What is it that the Albanians love about Norman Wisdom? Why are the Russians so enamored of Louis de Funes?

EXPORTING RAYMOND doesn't set out to answer these imponderables but it does offer a sharply observed lesson in how difficult it can be to export a smash hit comedy show to another culture.
When Sony decided to sell 'Everybody Loves Raymond' to Russia in 2009 the show's creator Philip Rosenthal went with them to Moscow to oversee the translation of his show. He imagined that Russian tv executives would welcome the input and insight of the man who invented the multi-Emmy award winning sitcom in adapting his scripts into something appropriate for Russian audiences. How wrong could he be?
EXPORTING RAYMOND follows Rosenthal on his bewildering, frustrating and richly funny encounters with Russian tv directors, scriptwriters, actors and a spectacularly humorless head of comedy, none of whom have any interest in what he has to offer. Rosenthal's interaction with these disparate characters and his observations on the peculiarities (to the outsider) of the Russian way of doing things reveals an unexpected talent as a comedian. As the creator of and writer for 'Everyone Loves Raymond' I took it for granted that he'd have a good sense of humour but I hadn't expected him to be quite so good at delivering the material to camera, both in words and glances. He plays the part of the hapless stranger in a strange land to perfection, part Woody Allen and part Louis Theroux, and while the film is billed as a documentary at times it feels more like a mockumentary in the style of Christopher Guest's 'Best in Show', 'Waiting for Guffman' and 'A Mighty Wind.'
It's really not that important whether you're a fan of 'Everybody Loves Raymond.' This is a story as much about culture clash and getting lost in translation as it is about that particular tv show. And if you're looking for clues to that great mystery about comedy this is a very entertaining place to start your search.