“Outsourced” Seitz review
On the same day that a certain film about three American brothers in India is getting half-trashed, a smaller, possibly less affected film about a single American guy visiting India under professionally strained circumstances — John Jeffcoat‘s Outsourced — has also opened in Manhattan, Austin, San Francisco and various northwestern cities.
It opens in L.A. (and other northern California towns) next week and, of course, no one has told me about any screenings. N.Y. Times critic Matt Zoller Seitz has called it “a wonderful surprise.” I’ve decided to see it entirely because of this photo of Outsourced star Josh Hamilton in the feces-filled Ganges.
If you told me that was an old still of Jim Carrey from his Ace Ventura days, I’d believe you.
Not just feces, don’t forget the corpses and the industrial waste.
This is actually an intelligent and sincere film. Deserves an audience.
Krumly:
I’m thinking more of a young Bruce Campbell. But, I see the Jim Carrey resemblance, too.
That’s a picture of what would’ve happened to Chris McCandless had he been to a Happy Monday’s concert and met a tantric sex instructor who ditched him in Dehli because she got accepted to the PhD program in linguistics at Columbia.
Lazespud to Gruvert:
There was a great article in the Seattle P-I this week about the entirely independent release of Outsourced. A great read, including words of wisdom from Bogdonavich when he tried something similar.
I’m surprised you missed it at the Seattle FF; it was really popular (I haven’t seen it, but it sounds warm and funny). And the completely independent distribution appeals to me greatly…
Here’s the article:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/333342_outsource27.html?source=mypi
I like that picture. Great take-off on that infamous APOCALYPSE NOW shot.
Roger Ebert gave it three stars and spoke affectionately about it. Now I’m perked as well to see it.
Josh Hamilton is one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets. You should all hunt down Freak Talks About Sex with him and Steve Zahn. Hilarious. And keep your ear out for the band Tugboat Annie in the opening credits. Another indie gem.
Anyone have any idea why Ebert didn’t review THE KINGDOM this week?
Outsourced played the Haifa Film Festival today and I caught it there. Sweet, funny, good natured, cute and enjoyable. It’s a puppy of a movie. But nothing we haven’t seen before. It tries to be an Indian “Local Hero” (Bill Forsyth’s 80′s film that I adore), right down to an almost exact final scene.
It was shown last year at Toronto. I wondered what had happened to it. It packed the house and went over extremely well with the TIFF crowd. It’s a smart, funny comedy with an excellent performance by Hamilton. Worth checking out, definitely.
Hamilton is more of a Christian Bale than a Jim Carrey.
Saw it in Toronto last year, and I am very glad that it will be released. It’s a pretty charming film. Nothing great, but better than alot of stuff that’s out there.