Outsourced (2006) released in 2008

We are lucky that this is playing at our aging art house theatre (now held over until Dec. 4). It has not enjoyed wide release since its completion 2 years ago and the filmmakers are begging us to buy the DVD and the soundtrack (which I ordered today). It is a delightful romantic comedy (if you have seen the poster you know he's gonna hook up) which I enjoyed thoroughly. I am a fan of Harvard-educated Indian director Mira Nair (especially Monsoon Wedding (2001) and The Namesake (2006), which was adapted from a wonderful book by Jhumpa Lahiri). Nair adeptly weaves compelling, timeless stories with splashy Bollywood images. This, the feature directorial debut of (American) John Jeffcoat, is lightweight and modern, about a 30-something man forced to leave his gray world in a Seattle call center and train his replacement in a colorful Indian city a couple of hours outside Mumbai (Bombay to us Yanks). Todd (Josh Hamilton) awkwardly learns to get along in this classic fish-out-of-water story. I thought Angelina Jolie was all lips and eyes in Changeling, but the lovely Ayesha Dharker (Asha) has giant peepers and smile in a face much smaller. Don't take the kids unless you are prepared to explain the meaning of Kama Sutra (there is no nudity, however). Sorry if that is a spoiler! Apparently there will be an NBC series next season based on this movie. See the original first. Available on netflix now. For more about the movie, check out the Outsourced blog.