The subject of outsourcing jobs is a sensitive one as the U.S. labor market struggles to recover from a recession. As jobs disappear, workers are faced with the problem of finding new ones in a climate of vanishing businesses and shrinking opportunities. The aptly titled Offshore, a joint Anglo-Indian production, attempts to examine the issue from both sides. The film takes place in Michigan, a state that's suffering under a very real economic downturn, and in India, which has seen its own place on the global economic stage change rapidly for the better over the last few years.

Directed by Diane Cheklich from a screenplay she co-wrote with Peg Bogema and Chetana Kowshik, the film explores what happens when Fairfax Furniture, a company based in Detroit for many years, decides to cut costs by outsourcing its call center. Think of Fairfax as an American version of IKEA — the company makes reasonably priced furniture that customers assemble themselves. The workers who man the call center are on hand to advise customers about every aspect of the product, including assembly, and the company's cubicles are full of employees, some of whom have given over much of their working lives to Fairfax.

As the film opens, Fairfax CEO Derek Abernathy (Marty Bufalini), under the gun and needing to cut costs, is being sold a bill of goods in the guise of a business presentation from Ajay (Sid Makkar), whose company, Voxx, would just love to be the winner of Fairfax's outsourcing contract. Ajay goes back to India with contract in hand, but there's a major catch: Voxx doesn't really exist yet. Ajay's father, played by Satish Shah (who will be well known to followers of Bollywood films), is literally in the midst of assembling an actual call center, complete with fumbling workmen and intermittently functional phone lines. He puts Ajay in charge of hiring three trainers to spearhead the relocation effort. The three, Nikhil, Anjali, and Reva (Neil Bhoopalam, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee, and Malaika Shenoy respectively), are sent to Detroit for intensive training — at the hands of the workers they'll be replacing.

Needless to say, the three are not greeted warmly. The two women in charge of training them are resentful at first. But as Bridget (Emily Rose Merrell) begins to warm to the trio, Carol (Deb Tunis), who's worked at Fairfax for a long time and seems to have little meaning in her life apart from her job, tries desperately to sabotage the venture. Carol's anger turns quickly to vengeance, and her emotions are taken advantage of by Amanda Case, a local news investigative reporter (Alison Crockett), who's only interested in Fairfax's plight long enough to get a story. As Carol's machinations unleash a whole host of racism and ugliness amongst her colleagues, the three trainees persevere at their work and find solace in each other's company.

Article Author: Lisa McKay

Lisa McKay is Blogcritics' Executive Editor. At BC she can usually be found hanging out in the film section. She recently started food blogging at Will Kill for Food.

In her spare time, she watches movies, listens to music, reads, and caters to the whims of two spoiled cats. …

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