Entertainment

Exporting Raymond

If (and only if) you need to know every detail about how the Russian version of “Everybody Loves Raymond” was put together, drop everything to see “Exporting Raymond.”

The documentary is a video diary by the creator of the popular US sitcom, Phil Rosenthal, who goes to Moscow to try to adapt the pilot script to Russian tastes. Rosenthal, a wide-eyed neurotic who plays up his naive amazement, tries gamely to squeeze in as many double-takes, culture clashes and phony scares as he can. So stretched is he for material, he visits a techno-art museum and debates the owner about content vs. form. “I don’t have to come to Moscow to be told I’m not funny. I could hear that in my house,” is a line typical of Rosenthal’s “Honeymooners”-era shtick.

Fans of “Everybody Loves Raymond” gobbled up its wheezy beer-commercial-style gags about elderly parents crashing a car into the house and men who tape a football game over the wedding video. It’s hard to imagine sitcom viewers being interested in a documentary about Russian peculiarities. So who is this movie for?

Rosenthal is a millionaire many times over who doesn’t seem to have any great love for or interest in Russia, so why is he here? And creatively it can’t be satisfying to him to restage old jokes with people who don’t get them. So the movie has the feel of a weary business trip.