When a disparate group of middle-class Brits discover that their limited pensions will not provide them with much of a retirement they
abandon their homeland and get enticed by some advertisements for THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, which
lays claims to a luxurious sanctuary for "the elderly and beautiful"
in Jaipur, India. The seven of them meet
up for the first time en route when their cancelled plane ride for the final part
of their journey has to be replaced by an over-packed ramshackle bus that
barely gets them there in one piece.
On arrival, the Hotel is nothing short of a dump,
albeit in a very pretty location, and is absolutely nothing like the paradise
lyrically promised in the brochure. Sonny,
the ever-optimistic young owner/manager works overtime trying to encourage his new
elderly patrons to make the best of it, and for some of them his infectious
good humor starts to slowly break down their inbred British reserve.
Each of them has a story. Evelyn, recently widowed to
find that her husband of 40 years had left with masses of debt that she had no inkling
off and now must actually get her first ever job; Madge fed up with being her grandchildren’s
live-in sitter and wants to meet her next husband; Muriel an embittered racist ex-housekeeper
who’s been told by her local hospital that she can get her hip replaced quicker
& cheaper in India; Norman who is essentially an oversexed old man who wants to make new conquests; Douglas & Jean a grossly miss-matched married
couple who blew their entire savings in their daughters’ new ‘sure bet’
company; and then there is Graham an ex High Court Judge who is back in India
to try and track down his boyhood friend.
It’s Graham’s story that has the most resonance and gives a beautiful
core to the piece (and has you dabbing your eyes for a minute).
The characters are, on the whole, stereotypes, the
story weak and way too long, and there are some unexplainable plot twists that don't
make any sense e.g. miserable Muriel suddenly not just likes foreigner but is so happy to be with and wants to solve all their problems too. BUT with all of it’s faults, this most gentlest of quintessential English comedies with its rich helping of some wonderful one-liners is a real crowd pleaser, especially if, like me, you are on the wrong side of
40 (just!). It is a little gem. Due of course to the enviable
cast of real acting greats that veteran Director John Madden ('Shakespeare In Love', 'Her Majesty Mrs Brown') has gathered. British
naturally, except for young Dev Patel ('Slumdog Millionaire') who plays Sonny and
holds his own very well even in the august company he works with. Two Dames no less with Judi Dench and Maggie
Smith plus Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton & Ronald
Pickup.
If there’s a message in this wee comedy then I guess it
would be that if you learn to let go of the past, you will be really surprised how wonderfully different your future can be.
P.S. I originally 'blogged' this when I saw this real grown up comedy when it first opened in the UK, and have just tweaked it after seeing it again now that it has opened in the US. Its doing remarkably good business at the box office which is not too big a shock as its same audience
that just made Downtown Abbey such a hit stateside, and for them I should add that the movie
re-unites Maggie Smith (The Dowager Countess) with Penelope Wilton (Cousin
Isobel).
★★★★★★★★★
★★★★★★★★★
