Outsourced: Review By Brokaw

When you call for technical assistance for your computer, you might be connected with someone in India. The same is true for airline reservations or catalog ordering. Outsourcing is the thing to do in American business these days because the companies can employ several foreign workers for the price of one American worker. This is what happens to Todd Anderson (Josh Hamilton) when his entire department is outsourced to India. Everyone is out of a job except Todd who is sent to India to train the replacements. The company sells novelty items, and besides explaining how to do their jobs Todd must also enlighten the new workers about American slang and the products themselves. For instance, they do not understand why Americans would wear a foam wedge of cheese on their heads. Todd has to explain about the culture, but more importantly, Todd must also learn about Indian culture in order to really communicate with his new staff.

In the beginning Todd is not pleased about being in India, but he takes everything with a grain of salt. The food is one thing that he must get used to, but their culture is completely different and he dives right into it, with the help of his new friends - especially Asha (Ayesha Dharker), a smart young woman who is eager to learn everything about America and her new company while teaching her culture to Todd.

In order for Todd to complete his mission and return home, he has to get the average call time down which means the people must learn how to communicate with the customers about the products and how to sell. This is a big task, but with the help of Asha, Todd is soon a shining star in his company.

The story is well written and filled with humor. Outsourcing is a part of life and this story brings it front and center. But the story isn't all there is to this movie. The characters are delightful and enjoyable to watch. Combining American and Indian culture is fun in itself, but how do you explain branding cows to people who put the animals on pedestals? This is a cute and charming film and a lot of fun. Curry anyone?