10-07-2007, 09:34 AM
We go to movies more based upon the theater than the movie. We hate multiplexes. I'm sure one of those 25 theaters in the cinemark leads to the cattle slaughtering room, and if there's any justice, it'd be the one behind Saw 5. So we went to Outsourced mostly because it was at the Aquarius. It's a small indie, and much to our delight, the writer/director John Jeffcoat, was in the audience and surprised everyone after by coming forward to talk about the film. That was really special. That would never happen in a multiplex unannounced. Screw those places.
Having been to India, it was amusing. It put India in a modern flattering light, a relatively genuine portrayal. Most of the actors were amateur - in fact, the street urchins were culled from an Indian theater project that helps at risk youths and many of the supporting cast were family of those kids. The story arc was super predictable. Josh Hamilton was ok as the fish-out-of-water American. Ayesha Dharker, best known for having a few lines in Star Wars II (Queen Jamila - yea, I had to look that character up too), stole every scene. She has huge eyes and an impossibly wide mouth, which allows for great expressions, especially when her eyes get teary. She stood out as the one solid performance in this film. The romance (and that's only a spoiler if you're an idiot - didn't we say no idiots in DOOM?) was completely implausible, but it resolved nicely. There were some fine comedic moments, especially if you know Indian culture.
It brought back a lot of memories from when we went a decade ago. It's funny, when we were there, we saw Pardes, which was leading a genre of culture-clash films about Indians immigrating to the west that was all the rage then. Now with this and Darjeelling Limited, Hollywood is catching up to Bollywood. I asked the director how he felt about that and he dodged the question but was clearly uncomfortable with the simultaneuos release (there was even a preview for it before his flick) Ironically, Owen Wilson's 2008 film is titled Outsourced, that is, if he makes it. He should have stuck with Jackie.
The director implored us to get more people to see this and I'd do that just to support indie film, but truth be told, this is a small film, a DVD renter, and probably not for any of you, since I doubt any of you share my passion for India. Nevertheless, it was a strong first effort from a new director and I hope the film succeeds.
Having been to India, it was amusing. It put India in a modern flattering light, a relatively genuine portrayal. Most of the actors were amateur - in fact, the street urchins were culled from an Indian theater project that helps at risk youths and many of the supporting cast were family of those kids. The story arc was super predictable. Josh Hamilton was ok as the fish-out-of-water American. Ayesha Dharker, best known for having a few lines in Star Wars II (Queen Jamila - yea, I had to look that character up too), stole every scene. She has huge eyes and an impossibly wide mouth, which allows for great expressions, especially when her eyes get teary. She stood out as the one solid performance in this film. The romance (and that's only a spoiler if you're an idiot - didn't we say no idiots in DOOM?) was completely implausible, but it resolved nicely. There were some fine comedic moments, especially if you know Indian culture.
It brought back a lot of memories from when we went a decade ago. It's funny, when we were there, we saw Pardes, which was leading a genre of culture-clash films about Indians immigrating to the west that was all the rage then. Now with this and Darjeelling Limited, Hollywood is catching up to Bollywood. I asked the director how he felt about that and he dodged the question but was clearly uncomfortable with the simultaneuos release (there was even a preview for it before his flick) Ironically, Owen Wilson's 2008 film is titled Outsourced, that is, if he makes it. He should have stuck with Jackie.
The director implored us to get more people to see this and I'd do that just to support indie film, but truth be told, this is a small film, a DVD renter, and probably not for any of you, since I doubt any of you share my passion for India. Nevertheless, it was a strong first effort from a new director and I hope the film succeeds.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse