Outsourced!

Real quick movie recommendation. Kristin and I downloaded Outsourced over XBLA the other night and really enjoyed it. It's about a thirtysomething sales guy for a Seattle company called Northwest Novelty (they sell lots of kitsch) who is forced to go to India to train the people who are taking over for his department. It stars Josh Hamilton (who bears more than a passing resemblance to Dane Cook) as the executive and the beautiful Ayesha Dharker as the inevitably hard-working phone-bank employee for whom Josh's character falls for.

The movie is pretty funny at times, but also as independent films are typically willing to do, doesn't mind spending some time showcasing the opposing viewpoint to a sensitivie topic, in this case showing an Indian's take on outsourcing. I also enjoyed the movie because of the culture shock-value and because it really seemed to showcase India as India, and not what Hollywood wants us to believe it's like. The portions of the movie that strayed more into travel-zine territory seemed far more genuine than in most other movies. Of course, I hadn't been to India yet, but it seemed presented in a natural state.

The characters are all likeable (except for the one who is purposely a jerk) and the setting is fantastic. It's a pretty short movie at just 103 minutes, but it's won a handful of awards including Best Film at the 2007 Seattle Independent Film Festival.

Definitely check it out.