The newest film from Shakespeare In Love's John Madden and based on the novel These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel follows a group of disparate group of English retirees as they travel to India looking to change their lives. Evelyn (Judy Dench) is alone for the first time in life after the death of her husband. Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) have lost their life savings after a foolish investment. Graham (Tom Wilkinson) is returning to the place where he grew up. Madge (Celia Imrie) and Norman (Ronald Pickup) are looking for a partner. Her for money, him for love. And Muriel (Maggie Smith) is waiting on a hip replacement. They all book into The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a supposed luxury resort for the elderly, but find only a run down hotel and its well intentioned but ill prepared manager Sonny (Dev Patel).
The real draw here is the caliber of the actors involved, and they do not disappoint. For the most part, a group of cliched characters (the overbearing wife and put upon husband, the man eater, the randy old man), are elevated to much more, and I can honestly say I did not dislike one character. The stand out for me was Maggie Smith's racist curmudgeon, who starts out as comic relief but ultimately becomes the heart of the movie, her treatment of minorities being a reflection of society's treatment of her as she got older. While there is plenty of drama, for the majority of it's run time, this is a comedy, and there is genuine humour to be found from the script and the actor's portrayals. It's refreshing to see a comedy deliver its laughs through dialogue and characters, and not rely on gross out gags and outlandish situations. That been said, I will be first in line for American Reunion when it is released.
The film does have it's faults: characters supposedly important to the plot disappear once their duties are fulfilled, one or two sub plots go nowhere, and the two hour plus run time could have being trimmed. But all in all, its a gentle, uplifting comedy drama about making the most out of life.
The real draw here is the caliber of the actors involved, and they do not disappoint. For the most part, a group of cliched characters (the overbearing wife and put upon husband, the man eater, the randy old man), are elevated to much more, and I can honestly say I did not dislike one character. The stand out for me was Maggie Smith's racist curmudgeon, who starts out as comic relief but ultimately becomes the heart of the movie, her treatment of minorities being a reflection of society's treatment of her as she got older. While there is plenty of drama, for the majority of it's run time, this is a comedy, and there is genuine humour to be found from the script and the actor's portrayals. It's refreshing to see a comedy deliver its laughs through dialogue and characters, and not rely on gross out gags and outlandish situations. That been said, I will be first in line for American Reunion when it is released.
The film does have it's faults: characters supposedly important to the plot disappear once their duties are fulfilled, one or two sub plots go nowhere, and the two hour plus run time could have being trimmed. But all in all, its a gentle, uplifting comedy drama about making the most out of life.
