Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Exporting Raymond Blu-ray Movie Review

Import this fantastic film into your Blu-ray collection.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 29, 2011

Do the show you want to do.

Rules for the perfect TV sitcom: it's got to be funny, it should be grounded in something approximating reality, the cast has to be spot-on, and it needs a bit of heart every now and then to tie it all together. All of those qualities were perfectly arranged like they were part of some critically-important and attention-intensive scientific formula in "Everybody Loves Raymond," the nine-season strong sitcom that captured the attention of America and tickled its funny bone like clockwork, hanging around and ever-solidifying its stronghold in popular culture through the dedication of the entire production team and the admiration and appreciation of an audience that knows a great thing when it sees -- and laughs at -- it. It just so happens that series creator Philip Rosenthal has used this same formula to find great success in his latest venture, a lighthearted Documentary that follows the trials, people, and culture shocks that challenged the creation of a Russian-made adaptation of "Everybody Loves Raymond." Exporting Raymond, sure enough, is intensely funny but in a subtle sort of way. It's also home to a great cast of characters -- from Rosenthal himself to his ex-military driver, from a demanding and closed-minded costumer to the ultra-serious straight-out-of-"The Sopranos" head honcho of Russia's Department of Comedy -- who bring to the film a true sense of Russian reality and, indeed, a little bit of heart amidst all of the ups, downs, confusions, and disagreements that threaten to ground the Russian version of the show before it's even been stocked, fueled, and prepped for takeoff.

Everybody loves a white block.

Philip Rosenthal grew up loving television. As fate would have it, he himself became part of television history when he created a little sitcom called "Everybody Loves Raymond." It became a smash hit, lasting nine seasons and delighting Americans with its lighthearted approach to everyday household comedy. It was so big, in fact, that Sony decided there was a market for it to be not just translated abroad, but remade entirely using different sets and actors but working off the same nine season's worth of American scripts. With that, Rosenthal flew to Russia to get the ball rolling on translating "Raymond" for an Eastern audience. Of course, it wasn't a smooth transition. Rosenthal's journey exposes the great cultural differences between Russia and the United States, differences so stark that they threaten to destroy the very fabric of what made the show successful. As the cast is assembled, the costumes chosen, the scripts reworked, and Rosenthal's pleas to leave well enough alone falling on deaf ears, he must watch as the heart of his show is altered for a foreign market that just doesn't understand why "Everybody Loves Raymond" worked in the first place. Can he convince the hardline Russians to see things his way, or will "Everybody Loves Kostya" emerge as an epic Russian television fiasco?

In Russia -- or at least in one particularly peculiar Russian hotel -- they change out the carpet in the elevator every day to reflect the day of the week, with, say, "Tuesday" written on the rug, in English, of course. That's part of the cultural idiosyncrasies -- or is it the Russian's view of the outside world? -- that make up the foundation of Exporting Raymond, and it's those by-American-standards oddities that provide the groundwork for much of the film. Philip Rosenthal finds himself surrounded by an overload of culture shock that proves not an insurmountable obstacle to making a Russian version of his hit TV show, but at least another challenge as he tries to figure out what it is that makes the country click, how it reacts to, accepts, and maybe even embraces, outside ideas and people. It's all very straightforward as Rosenthal has crafted it and the audience sees it, but even then the underlying frustrations, confusions, doubts, and friendly exchanges of at-odds ideas certainly define much of the film yet are framed in a subtly humorous context. The audience feels like a member of Rosenthal's party, exploring Russia and the inner-workings of the country's television industry right alongside him, sharing in the frustrations but never feeling overwhelmed by either the culture or the war of words that politely play out in meeting rooms and on-set during rehearsals. If Rosenthal is going to succeed and his show is to finally appear on-air, he's going to have to figure out just what makes Russia tick and either alter his show to fit the style, convince the Russians to accept his vision, or meet his overseas television co-workers somewhere in the middle.

In Russia, Britney Spears is adored for her style and the sort of energetic show she puts on, not for the quality of her music or her substance as a person. The revelation of that observation proves to be the critical turning point in the film, for it plainly identifies the purpose behind Rosenthal's struggles to make the show in the image of its American counterpart. Glamour, excessiveness, that which is out of the realm of reality reigns supreme. Suddenly, everyday people doing everyday things with something slightly out of place or some minor thing slowly building into a major problem might not cut it. That was the foundation of "Everybody Loves Raymond" but that might not be enough to sell either network executives or Russian audiences on the viability of the show as presented in the American style. Whether Rosenthal must battle with a stubborn costumer who believes a woman staying home to clean house must be dressed to the nines as if in preparation for a night out on the town or an actor who just can't shake his own cultural biases when pretending to have been knocked in his nether regions, it seems the show would be doomed, or at least doomed to look like anything but "Everybody Loves Raymond." But it's the spirit of hard work, compromise, understanding, and some good luck that allow the show to go on to be a successful Russian television venture. It's proof that good comedy, smart writing, and the right actors can translate a fine idea into any culture.

That's the story of Exporting Raymond, but it's also more than that. It's also part behind-the-scenes travelogue and part uproariously funny Comedy. It really is uncanny how the basics of this film reflect the basics of Rosenthal's hit TV show. There's such a remarkable cast of characters in this movie that it's hard to believe it's all real, the product of fortuitous circumstance. Rosenthal manages to truly bring his audience along for the ride, and not just show it to them. The film is precisely edited to pull every last ounce of humor from each situation. Most of it is subtle yet obvious and comes from the culture shock differences, but at the same time it's tickling the funny bone it's also engaging the brain as it crafts a fairly serious dramatic undercurrent as various players undermine the heart and soul of the TV show and, by extension, Rosenthal's own pride and the quality of his work. Rosenthal himself is excellent in the film; he comes across as genuinely passionate about his show and eager to make it work in Russia, but at the same time determined to see it through his way and not give in to those who would inadvertently sabotage the show's success. Ultimately, the real question the film asks is whether the obstacles stem from immutable cultural differences or people who can be shown that comedy is a universal language that's fluent in laughter and resilient to even the most staunch, set-in-its ways culture and collection of ideas.

Exporting Raymond Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Exporting Raymond arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 1.78:1-framed image that's built around a myriad of sources of varying qualities. There's the freshly-minted HD footage, clips from "Everybody Loves Raymond" that are of intermediate HD quality, and a plethora of standard-definition footage. Of course, the lower-grade elements yield some unsightly banding, blocky backgrounds, poor colors, and the like, but it would be unfair to lower the score based on antiquated material that wasn't created with high definition in mind or even then-readily available or economically viable. The newer footage looks fine, for the most part; compression issues are kept to a minimum, though it is a bit noisy, flat, and features a decidedly glossy texture. Still, fine details are quite good, nowhere near the quality of what viewers might expect to find in a digitally-shot big-budget blockbuster, but more than adequate in the handling of skin and clothing textures, building façades, and the like. Colors are bright and well-balanced, but blacks are sometimes a hair washed out and gray. Even subtracting the older, lower-grade material, the transfer isn't a stunner, but it's more than adequate given what it has to work with.

Exporting Raymond Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Exporting Raymond features a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Sony's soundtrack doesn't do anything out of the ordinary, nor does the film's sound design require much of it. This is generally a front-heavy, dialogue-intensive film. The spoken word is crisp and accurately delivered from the center channel. Some energized pop music injects a bit of flavor into the proceedings; it's nicely spaced -- including a bit of surround sound support -- and enjoys a satisfactory thumping low end. Atmospherics are few but handled well; the back channels carry some Russian thunder and a few external elements, but the track is mostly satisfied to linger across the front and convey the story through dialogue. Sony's track is perfectly clear and finely balanced; it's the very definition of "unexciting" but it handles the film's rather limited sound design with nary a major flaw.

Exporting Raymond Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Exporting Raymond arrives on Blu-ray with a high quality array of extras, highlighted by a wonderful commentary track and one of the best features in recent memory, two episodes of the respective American and Russian versions of the show.

• Audio Commentary: Writer/Director Philip Rosenthal is just as funny in this commentary as he is in his own film. He begins with a humorous little shout-out to his parents and continues on to share the story of the making of the movie. He discusses his work on "Raymond" and the show's authenticity and success, the history of sitcoms in Russia, the true story of Exporting Raymond and how it translated to the screen, his actual role in the Russian version of the show, the realities of Russia and Russian show business, and plenty more. Rosenthal comes across as very genuine, excited, and maybe even a bit humble all throughout the track. It's a wonderful compliment to the film and one of the best tracks of the year.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 11:16): More with My Parents; A Little More Nervous; Just Back From Lunch at the Commissary; Lost in Translation; The Crew, and Pastries; Set Visit with Dimitri; The Twins; Everyday Fighting; and Francisco.
• "Everybody Loves Kostya" Episodes (480p, 24:26 each): "Baggage" and "The Family Bed."
• "Everybody Loves Raymond" Episodes: "Baggage" (1080p, 22:42) and "The Family Bed" (480p, 22:48).
• Old Jews Telling Jokes: "Restaurant" by Max Rosenthal (1080p, 1:15): Philip's father shares a humorous story.
• Exporting Raymond Trailer: (1080p, 2:26).
• Previews: Additional Sony titles.
• BD-Live.

Exporting Raymond Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Exporting Raymond will satisfy those who have seen every episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" several times over and those who have yet to experience the joys the show has to offer. Philip Rosenthal secures his legacy as a television and entertainment great by carrying over what made his hit show work so well into the medium of Documentary filmmaking. That his real-life trials in bringing his show to a foreign market so closely reflect those same attributes that made "Everybody Loves Raymond" such a huge success just goes to show how his formula truly does universally work. He's created the same kind of atmosphere in this film as was found in his television show, even if they are vastly differing entities. Those same four core elements -- humor, cast, realism, and heart -- define both the show and this film. Budding writers, filmmakers, and television directors take note: sometimes it's the simplest things, the smallest little touches, and adherence to what works and what people want that sells, whether at home or abroad (though as Exporting Raymond proves it may take a while to get that basic point across!). Sony's Blu-ray release of Exporting Raymond delivers about as good a video presentation as one could expect given the myriad of mixed-quality sources. The audio track is fine and the included supplements are a great strength. Highly recommended.