Not Nyet

Here's a revelation I just had. 

I no longer go to current movies.  I can't remember the last time I went to see the latest release from Hollywood.   Thye finally have officially lost me.  Sorry, Thor.  Too bad, Green Hornet.  Alas, alack, The Hangover Part 2.    Your fare for the mindless and stupid twenty-one-year-old is definitely and eternally now on my list of "Things Not to Do."

But, if a theater is going a good documentary, I am there.  And, if the documentary is all about one of my favorite TV sitcoms of all time, well, what time does it start and how much for a box of Raisinets, please?

Of all the Spring wide release movies released, "Exporting Raymond" was the only one I wanted to go out and see.  Indeed, you really don't have to be a fan of the TV show to enjoy this little slice of Russian life, but it helps.  I, of course, was a huge devotee of "Everybody Loves Raymond," perhaps one of the simplest but most organically perfect situation comedies ever.  The movie's a slamdunk for me.

Writer-director Phil Rosenthal was ELR's creator and, from everything I have heard, one of the truly nice guys in Hollywood.  In this documentary, you follow him to Moscow where he's entrusted by Sony Studios to help mount a Russian television version of his legendary American sitcom.   It seems like the Russkies have already turned around their own editions of "The Nanny" and "Married with Children."   Given the quality of those two shows, flipping "Everybody Loves Raymond" and having appeal to the land of borscht can't be that hard.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  And Rosenthal, with his own unique easy going manner, takes us along for the very bumpy ride.

There's the high-falutin' costume designer who travels around with small dogs and insists that a Russian housewife must dress like she's on "Sex and the City."  There's the director who spends most of the pilot's production schedule not speaking to Phil, except to discuss with him his hobby of performance art with enema bags.

And that's just for starters.

The TV studio where the Russian ELR will be filmed makes Chernobyl look like a Ritz Carlton.  The studio audience sits on rented bridge chairs and seem to be comprised of twenty bitter people in search of a bus station.  Phil gets so lost in the mayhem that he frequently forgets what day it is.  No worries, though, since his hotel syncs up the elevator rugs to the days of the week. 

Is this any way to adapt a successful sitcom?  Hardly.  But it's a laugh-filled documentary.

The casting of "Everybody Loves Kostya" is another story.  The Russian actor who would be perfect for the Ray Romano part is trapped in a renowned Russian theater company and its director won't release him to be in a dreaded "TV show."  Meanwhile, Rosenthal's driver may or may not be a former KGB agent who is now checking into a hospital for ten days of tests because he may or may not be sick.    At every turn, Phil hits a brick wall as big as the Kremlin, but he remains undaunted in making sure his American creation is done justice by Russian television, which is shepherded by a head of comedy development who never smiles and doesn't think Phil's ELR pilot script is very funny.

The end result from all of Phil's pain is a delicious and educational look at another part of the globe and how they entertain their own masses.  From what you see in this movie, I'd have little interest in watching the Russian version of "Everybody Loves Raymond."  A postscript tells me that I'm, however, in the minority.  "Everybody Loves Kostya" premiered in November of 2009 and is now the #1 show on Russian television. 

Whether we believe it or not, comedy is universal.  And always worth the effort. 

So is a damn good documentary.  Perhaps the only reason these days to venture into a multiplex.

Dinner last night:  Clubhouse salad at the Cheesecake Factory.