The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012)

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is great feel good film. I found it to be quite captivating and am very glad that I made the effort to see it. I recommend it to others.

In brief, the film revolves around the coming together of seven elderly and somewhat impecunious Britons who, of their own volition, and quite separately, decide to retire to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in Jaipur. They discovered the place on the internet and, as we all should know, the internet can sometimes be a bit misleading. Indeed, this is the case here. The hotel had been billed as a marvelous palace when, in fact, it was tired and chaotic.

The seven visitors form the key members of the cast and are led by Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy. Some can adjust to the way of life in India while others fail completely. Along the way, we are given a peek into daily life in India in all its colour and noise.

The movie is often funny but always enthralling. I will say no more as to the plot. I have no wish to spoil this film for others. However, I will say that it is money and time very well spent.

John Madden's "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" may not be a great film, but it is a thoroughly enjoyable one that will keep you entertained from beginning to end. It isn't challenging in the slightest, which has caused many critics to downgrade it, or damn it with faint praise. All I know is that the audience in the packed theater where I saw the film applauded at the end, and I applauded with them.

By now everyone knows the story of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." A group of English retirees decides for various reasons (mostly financial) to move to India. The retirement hotel they choose sounds glorious from the brochure, but turns out to be a rundown, if once-grand, hulk run by a young Indian with much more enthusiasm than skill. A lot of comedy ensues, and a little conflict and tragedy; attitudes are changed, old bonds broken, and new bonds forged.

The ensemble cast of British character actors ranges among the super-famous (Judi Dench, Maggie Smith), the moderately famous (Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton) and the not-so-famous (Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie), with the addition of one young rising star (Dev Patel, of "Slumdog Millionaire" fame). All of them are as charming, funny and touching as they possibly could be. Meanwhile, Madden and screenwriter Ol Parker do an excellent job of blending and articulating the various plotlines, aided by the gorgeous photography by Ben Davis and the insinuating score by Thomas Newman. Considering the effort all these master professionals made to give an audience a good time, it seems churlish to give "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" any less than five stars.

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I saw TBEMH at a theater in a community well-known for its attractiveness to retirees. Most of the audience seemed to be over sixty. I am in my 70s. The reactions I heard were all about relating to the characters and the dialogue. Most of the dialogue was more original than Maggie Smith's comment about green bananas, which I've heard dozens of times before. Having visited northeastern India and felt its overwhelming splendor and squalor, I was reminded of much of what I saw there. India itself seemed to be one of the characters, and was ably supported by both young and old Indian characters but also stood on its own with the visuals and the cacophony. The Hindu funeral made me wish I could have one too when my time comes. This is a movie I will see again and again just for the pleasure of seeing people and places that make me feel that it's really OK to be 70 and "out there."

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"Your call is very important to us. Please remain on the line..."

We started with a smile which rarely faded in this lovely PG-13 comedy. Here are gathered the best old war horses of British cinema. What a treat! And as a bonus, a trip through the color and chaos of modern-day India as seen through the eyes of seven senior citizens caught up in major culture shock. Each of our principal players is going to India for his or her own reason: to find a lost love; to look for a rich maharajah, to find a cheap place to live, to rejuvenate a marriage, to get a new hip; the reasons are as diverse as the people.

We have:

* Judi Dench ("As Time Goes By") Told to imagine her audience naked to overcome her stage fright: I think I'm a bit past all that..."

* Bill Nighy ("Blow Dry") After failing to fix a leaky water tap: "Now that I've got the hang of it, do you have anything else I can NOT fix?"

* Maggie Smith ("Downton Abbey") In response to the National Health Care's six-month wait for a new hip: "Six months! At my age, I don't plan anything that far ahead. I don't even buy green bananas!"

* Tom Wilkinson ("The Debt") Answering the question, "What do you see out there?" he beams, "Smiles!"

* Penelope Wilton ("Match Point") Sitting in the stifling, self-imposed exile of her room, "How can you STAND it out there?"

* Ronald Pickup (lots of TV) When asked the advisability of sex for senior citizens, "Well, if she dies, she dies!" He is an aging wanna-be gigolo who can get an astonishing amount of "action" from two aspirin!

* Celia Imrie ("Cranford") thinks she's got enough "it" for at least one more go at landing a wealthy husband.

* Dev Patel ("Slumdog Millionaire") Trying to recapture his deceased father's dream: "Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, it's not the end."

* Tena Desae ("Yeh Faasley") joins the pantheon of gorgeous stars formed in the Bollywood galaxy. We love her as she trains at a call center and copes with disapproval.

Each character is in one crisis or another but no ends are left dangling. This is a satisfying and entertaining look at a country most of us will never visit but which intrigues us, nonetheless. We see remnants of the old caste system, while we recognize remnants of a new one which flit by, unnoticed; AND we appreciate the skill with which each old pro commands his or her moment in the spotlight. I can hardly wait until this is available on DVD from Amazon.com!

Want The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) Discount?

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is a joy for those who love veteran thespians who can act up a storm. A group of English retirees decide to relocate to a seniors hotel in Darpur, India, to live a relaxing life of leisure. Unfortunately, the hotel turns out to be a dive -rundown, dreary, and depressing.

The characters are a lot more colorful and interesting than the plot. Tom Wilkinson plays gay magistrate Graham Dashwood, who has returned to India to find the boy he loved and left when he was young. Bill Nighy is retired bureaucrat Douglas Ainslie with an irritating, constantly complaining wife (Penelope Wilton), whose savings have been lost by a daughter's careless investment. Judi Dench is recent widow Evelyn Greenslade, who has never before looked after herself. Maggie Smith is Muriel Donnelly, an unapologetic racist in need of a hip replacement. And Celia Imrie is Madge Hardcastle, a gold digger still very much on the prowl.

The film attempts to tell too many stories simultaneously, which gives it an overstuffed feel. But it's unusual to have a movie these days reliant on Golden Agers, and it's a pleasure watching these superb actors sinking their teeth into sometimes underwritten characters and enlivening them with years of experience.

Once the principal characters are assembled and disappointed by what they find, director John Madden provides their back stories. There are many cliches and maybe too neat an ending, but the performances more than make up for the script's shortcomings. Personally speaking, I would be happy to watch Maggie Smith peel an apple. She is, at this point in her carrer, legendary and a master at her craft.

Available on both DVD and Blu-ray, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" bonus extras consist of only behind-the-scenes footage and some location interviews.

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