Sell Out

Sell Out

Wacky! Different! Over the top!

I set out to see the film The Tourist. I was actually in the auditorium waiting for the picture to begin. I kept thinking that I really didn’t want to see this film. I was reading the little brochure put out by the Carleton Theatre and noted that Sell Out was about to begin in a different auditorium. I was curious because it is a Malaysian film and I have never seen one from that country.

The whole film is a parody on reality TV. One of the main characters stated that there is a fine line between reality and fiction. That pretty much sums up the plot of this ridiculous story.

The main character is an announcer on a reality program. The characters are bizarre and ridiculous. The announcer is always looking for new ideas for programs to please her bosses.

She comes up with the idea of a reality program catching a person as they are dying. She had visited an ex boyfriend in the hospital and taped it as he was dying. She was heartless and ruthless to the young man. The program was such a success that she went about to find people on their death bed and she taped it.

It sounds ridiculous and callous. It certainly was both.

When she couldn’t find a dying person she stages a program with two young men at a large Asian banquet. The audience sent in e-mails to decide which man had to die. It was all on film.

It did point out how ridiculous most of the reality programs are. Sometimes you need to see something ‘over the top’ to make the point.

Several of the characters break out into singing. The songs are about the situations. Her ex boyfriend sings a poem about his love for the announcer. He chokes on his last words and literary dies.

The picture certainly is creative. I did have a few laughs. I also could have done without seeing it all.