You could say the ensemble romance film genre kicked off to a great start with Paris, je t'aime. Then trying to carry its verve to America, New York I Love You produced half-fulfilling tales of love and life in the Big Apple. The genre continued to fall into the $5 dvd bin at WalMart with Garry Marshalls' celebrity packed, one-liner filled comedies Valentine's Day and News Year Eve. Reviving what was once good, British actors (being what else legendarily brilliant) team up for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
A veteran cast of Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, and Ronald Pickup, are coming-on-retirement citizens who uproot their lives to a senior citizen retreat called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In India, the establishment is run by a hopeful dreamer and mis-manager, Dev Patel, whose advertising acumen (or lackof) makes out his hotel for more of what it could be than what it is.
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At the top of the movie we learn a little bit of why the characters are traveling to India. Bill Nighy and his wife Penelope Wilton are facing retirement with very little savings. They do not want to spend their last days in a four cornered apartment with an emergency buzz in case they ever fall. Mischievous single daters Ronald Pickup and Penelope Wilton want to try their hand at dating someplace else. Maggie Smith needs hip surgery fast and travels to India where it can be done swiftly (also she's a major racist). The moment Tom Wilkinson attends his retirement party he knows he needs to search for his ex-love at his childhood neighborhood.
"Optimally", Judi Dench is the voice of the film. Her introduction begins with her talking over the telephone to an outsourced customer service rep and receives little to no help for her problem. When her sons convince her to sell her home to pay off her late husbands' debt, Dench receives a wake-up call when she visits a website for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. After forty years of marriage, she takes the leap to discover what life is like on her own in a different culture.
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As the movie deals steadily with a little more drama than comedy, Patel becomes our source for laughter. He is a source of optimism for why The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel should work if only he could make it. An example of some of the characters' past mistakes with love, Patel has to come to terms with defying his mother and his culture's tradition by claiming love for a young woman who is trying to do break out on her own as well. His high energy and passion is that little sparkle in the film which makes it more enjoyable than it already is.
Traveling together via train, cars, and crowded buses, the movie carries a colorful flavor that other ensemble films mentioned above failed to achieve. We learn a little bit more of each characters dreams, past loves and traumas without the adventure succumbing to comedy or dramatic drivel. The evolution of their journeys aren't necessarily groundbreaking but they make the movie enjoyable. I fear writing about them here because it may end the spark of their little mysteries which fully drives the film.
I don't believe that the resonating talent of the cast will disappoint you. Each star elevates its already amazing game. Tom Wilkinson shows a bit of his softer side we don't normally see, with his character's touching story of returning home. Judi Dench goes remarkably unrecognized for her role, where the film relies a lot on her shoulders and encounters. All the characters who are finding themselves again challenges us to find that place we call home. For some it may be a melting pot for outsourced senior citizens called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
A veteran cast of Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie, and Ronald Pickup, are coming-on-retirement citizens who uproot their lives to a senior citizen retreat called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. In India, the establishment is run by a hopeful dreamer and mis-manager, Dev Patel, whose advertising acumen (or lackof) makes out his hotel for more of what it could be than what it is.
At the top of the movie we learn a little bit of why the characters are traveling to India. Bill Nighy and his wife Penelope Wilton are facing retirement with very little savings. They do not want to spend their last days in a four cornered apartment with an emergency buzz in case they ever fall. Mischievous single daters Ronald Pickup and Penelope Wilton want to try their hand at dating someplace else. Maggie Smith needs hip surgery fast and travels to India where it can be done swiftly (also she's a major racist). The moment Tom Wilkinson attends his retirement party he knows he needs to search for his ex-love at his childhood neighborhood.
"Optimally", Judi Dench is the voice of the film. Her introduction begins with her talking over the telephone to an outsourced customer service rep and receives little to no help for her problem. When her sons convince her to sell her home to pay off her late husbands' debt, Dench receives a wake-up call when she visits a website for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. After forty years of marriage, she takes the leap to discover what life is like on her own in a different culture.
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For me out of this monstrously talented cast Maggie Smith and Dev Patel stole the show. Smith, unlike any other way we've seen her before, yet so full of the charm she has always bestowed on-screen, has an amazing evolution. Starting out as the timid, racist traveler who eats food from jars pre-packed for her journey, not accepting help from the hotel's employees, and even insulting her caregivers of Indian descent, she grows into a character who realizes her mistakes. Mixing a few haha moments with "oh jeez, oh boys" tension, Smith is poignantly wonderful and mindblowing.
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As the movie deals steadily with a little more drama than comedy, Patel becomes our source for laughter. He is a source of optimism for why The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel should work if only he could make it. An example of some of the characters' past mistakes with love, Patel has to come to terms with defying his mother and his culture's tradition by claiming love for a young woman who is trying to do break out on her own as well. His high energy and passion is that little sparkle in the film which makes it more enjoyable than it already is.
Traveling together via train, cars, and crowded buses, the movie carries a colorful flavor that other ensemble films mentioned above failed to achieve. We learn a little bit more of each characters dreams, past loves and traumas without the adventure succumbing to comedy or dramatic drivel. The evolution of their journeys aren't necessarily groundbreaking but they make the movie enjoyable. I fear writing about them here because it may end the spark of their little mysteries which fully drives the film.
I don't believe that the resonating talent of the cast will disappoint you. Each star elevates its already amazing game. Tom Wilkinson shows a bit of his softer side we don't normally see, with his character's touching story of returning home. Judi Dench goes remarkably unrecognized for her role, where the film relies a lot on her shoulders and encounters. All the characters who are finding themselves again challenges us to find that place we call home. For some it may be a melting pot for outsourced senior citizens called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.