Outsourced

Funny and educational, this is the story of outsourcing. Todd (Josh Hamilton) has to go to India to train call center workers in how to do it the American way. It is a riot as they try to learn American customs, and he has to learn Indian ways.

Ayesha Dharker (Queen Jamilla in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones) really made this film. She was funny and pointed out Todd's errors and educated him in Indian ways. Of course, things do get heated between them.

A funny twist at the end causes Todd to reevaluate his life and focus on what is really important.

One of the happiest surprises of this year's Toronto International Film Festival was this delightful, beautifully shot comedy, which is not only funny and touching but actually offers a few insights into Indian culture as well. Josh Hamilton is terrific as Todd, an American businessman who is less than thrilled to learn his Seattle office is going to outsource its work to a call center in India. He's even more perturbed when his boss makes it clear that Todd will be in charge of training the Indian workers to efficiently handle orders while sounding as American as possible; that's important since the firm markets all-American knickknacks, such as miniature flags, hot dog toasters and Wisconsin cheese hats. The culture clash that results is beautifully played and wonderfully written. This has the potential to be another MY BIG FAT Greek WEDDING, if it's handled properly. I hope it is. I've been a big fan of Hamilton for years and he deserves a big hit.

Having just returned from a 3 week trip to India I found this movie to be absolutely delightful and so funny and so true. It was like I was transformed back to India. The culture shock when one first arrives in the country was beautifully portrayed as he stops to get a drink and then is over run with hawkers on the way to get a taxi and ends up in a motorized three-wheeler and the ride of his life. One has to experience it to know the feeling. Even the little nod of his head as he speaks has it nailed! And anyone who has had to call for computer help and gets their call sent off to a center in India will especially see the humor in this movie.

I had an absolute blast watching this movie today. It was funny, moving and most of all, sincere. It would have been very easy for the filmmakers to fall back into stereotypes while writing and shooting this movie, but they skillfully steered clear of any pitfalls that plague so many other movies out there, especially in this genre.

I got the chance to see this movie at a special screening at UW in Seattle today and join in a Q&A session with the writers (and director) John and George, Ayesha, who plays Asha, and a few of the producers. John, the director and co-writer, mentioned he had spent quite some time in Nepal and India during his student years. And although the story itself is a fictional one, the cultural shocks and experiences Todd goes through were largely based on John's own experiences during his time abroad. This seems to make for a very honest take on the nuances of this story. Luckily the movie not only focuses on Todd's shock of arriving in a completely new culture. The local people that Todd deals with on a daily basis also find they need to adjust to Todd's American way of running a call center. This makes for a balanced telling of a story about cultural differences and, maybe more importantly, the similarities.

It may not be a groundbreaking movie by any blockbuster standards, but the sincerity seems to be coming straight from the heart. And that's something you rarely see in movies nowadays. This movie deserves all the attention it gets. So go see it! And if you like it, tell your friends.

"Outsourced" is a genial and charming fish-out-of-water tale about a young American telemarketer who learns that his job is being shipped overseas. To add insult to injury, the novelty company he works for has decided to send him to India to train his own replacement. The movie is a bit predictable and unoriginal at times, but only a complete curmudgeon could be totally immune to its spell.

Josh Hamilton is immensely likable as the nice-guy protagonist, and Ayesha Dharker is lovely and radiant as the freethinking co-worker with whom he has a clandestine dalliance. Indeed, all the actors are first-rate, and the striking settings and iridescent colors add to the movie's appeal.

Moreover, the culture clash aspects of the story are dealt with in droll and subtle terms, as the initially "superior" foreigner begins to loosen up and immerse himself in all that this strange and exotic world has to offer.

It's a dicey business trying to make a feel-good comedy out of a subject as controversial and serious as outsourcing, but writer/director John Jeffcoat somehow manages to pull it off.