BY MIKEY MIGO
I had never heard of Phil Rosenthal until like a week ago. Apparently this guy is wealthier than 99% of the world. He’s the creator of the show “Everybody Loves Raymond” so he rakes in some crazy syndication money. Ray was always the face of the show, but Phil’s input and work seems to be a pretty important part of it. That’s what this documentary is about. It’s about Phil and his connection to the show “Everybody Loves Raymond” and making more money off of it. The premise is that he’s taking the show to Russia for them to make it into their own show with their own actors and some of their own cultural plot devices. It’s an interesting process. The casting process is interesting, the wardrobe lady was crazy, and the whole thing is weird. The two main things that stood out to me was the politics of the show making process seems to be really close to the normal US style and the second is Russians are too reserved and weird. They wanted the men to be stronger, the women to be more glamorous, and the lead to be a weird comedic hack guy. It’s a fun inside look to how things in foreign television work. We also get Phil’s perspective on the US version, life, his parents, and tons of randomness. There is a great scene where his parents are talking to him over web cam and I loved the evil villain-looking show executives. They looked like bad guys from 80’s action movies. Phil comes off like a really nice guy, but his wide eyed neurotic delivery gets old quickly. He comes off shocked at everything and rambles a lot. The voice over stuff comes off a little cheesy at times. I’m not faulting anyone. Phil seems like a genuine guy and I’m sure he knows this project isn’t going to make him a lot of money. He’s got that covered. It doesn’t feel like Phil is trying to milk “Everybody Loves Raymond” at all despite it seeming that way at start. He obviously made this because he wanted to share an experience with an audience. He did that and pleasantly. I’d like to see him in more stuff in the future, but as far away from his hit show as possible. It’s an interesting documentary. I’m not a HUGE fan of the show, but Phil and the story kept my attention through-out. If you’re a fan of Everybody Loves Raymond you’ll want to see this. If you’re interested in how Russians do their TV you’ll want to see this. If you like good documentaries, you’ll want to see this. Basically, see this. B+
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