| OUTSOURCED |
 2006 - USA
Director: John Jeffcoat
- Reviewed by Vickie
And it’s quite good! The film revolves around Todd (Josh Hamilton), a Seattle call-center supervisor, who learns that his “order fulfillment” department is being outsourced to a small town in India and that he’s expected to move there in order to train the replacement staffers. Culture shock immediately sets in as Todd tries to adjust to his new home abroad, and the film adopts a fairly standard fish-out-of-water structure where he moves from being horrified at his new surroundings to slowly being tolerant and, eventually, accepting and embracing them. Carefully tackling issues like globalization and the stereotype that Americans sometimes approach the world outside their borders with fear or resistance (“you should adapt to me, not the other way around!”) instead of openness and curiosity, the shot-on-location film manages to be simultaneously funny, informative and sweet. It moves along nicely, never dwelling on the drippy or sentimental and always throwing in a good laugh when it’s least expected. Aiding Todd in his transition from obnoxious American to enlightened visitor are two key players: Asha (Ayesha Dharker), one of his new employees and his blossoming love interest, and Puro (Asif Basra), who’s to take over for Todd when training is complete and through whose eyes we, the audience, get to experience the hilarity of the goings-on from both sides. Both are relentlessly charming and gentle with their impatient new boss, and both provide the warmth that grounds the film. With their help, Todd—and the audience, for that matter—is able to see this new situation with fresh, perhaps better-informed, eyes. Resentment evaporates and understanding takes its place, and the result left the audience I was with smiling from ear to ear as the closing credits rolled. Hopefully, some of that sentiment will carry through the next time one of us dials a 1-800 number and hears a voice on the other end that might belong to someone far, far away. |
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In recent years, much has been made of North American jobs—specifically, call-center operators—being outsourced overseas, where
labor is much cheaper and corporations can stretch their dollars as far
as possible. Two documentaries—Bombay Calling and John &
Jane—have tackled this subject matter of late, but
Outsourced is the first fictionalized account to his screens.
