Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a surprise sleeper that not many people will go and watch and it's a shame. Possibly the old cast, whose combined ages probably reaches around 300, may be a turn off, as well as the plot gleaned from the trailers about seniors finding new adventure in a foreign land. But it's much more that that. It's about awakening, realizing that old age is not a milestone where one reaches and gives up. It's about continuing to live, to embrace life, to understand your own shortcomings and dealing with them. One thing this movie shows is that it's never to late to change.
The movie's about seven Britishers who are strangers to one another but find themselves connected when they all book a flight to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel located in Jaipur, India, after seeing a rather impressive brochure for seniors. However, when they arrive they find to their dismay that the hotel is not at all what they envisioned. And so begins each of their journeys.
There are some fine performances by Dame Judi Dench, who plays a recent widow, and Dame Maggie Smith, an ailing woman with an imminent hip replacement surgery and more than a touch of xenophobia. Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy provide good support. The other characters are good in small humorous roles, except for Penelope Wilton, who plays Nighy's wife, a deeply bitter and resentful woman. Dench and Smith carry most of the movie on their shoulders, each of their stories taking up a good portion of the movie, never intersecting and never boring. It is Smith's story that proves to be more touching as she transforms the most out of the whole group.
The pace of the movie is slow but it can be excused as there are no twists, thrills, or explosions and you want this movie to be slow so that you can focus on what's happening in the background. The movie is shot in Rajasthan and the scenery is breathtaking, and you can see the beauty of the city that's reflected in the surroundings and the people who live in it.
The humour is good but there are several moving moments that are well, if not unexpectedly, placed. John Madden has done a good job in giving the actors enough leeway to do a good job and the editing is good enough that you wish the movie was longer than the two hour running time.
Are there any downsides? Well, Dev Patel was not very good. His Indian accent was overdone and obvious and he hammed a lot. He didn't add much to the star power of the movie so even a competent local actor would have been sufficient. At least he wouldn't have had to fake an accent. In any case it's not as if the audience would have recognized him. I also didn't like Penelope Wilton's character as she never did anything or tried anything to change her attitude or to be a part of the adventure. I also wish that Madden had shot some longer scenes in other parts of the city. Bill Nighy's character would go out to different parts of the city and was impressed with what he saw. I wish that we did too, instead of hearing about it in one sentence.
But, all in all, it's a fine movie to watch. Judging by the crowd I'd say it's a movie for the more senior variety so if anyone reading this fits that category then by all means head over to the closest cinema playing the movie and lose yourself for a couple of hours!
The movie's about seven Britishers who are strangers to one another but find themselves connected when they all book a flight to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel located in Jaipur, India, after seeing a rather impressive brochure for seniors. However, when they arrive they find to their dismay that the hotel is not at all what they envisioned. And so begins each of their journeys.
There are some fine performances by Dame Judi Dench, who plays a recent widow, and Dame Maggie Smith, an ailing woman with an imminent hip replacement surgery and more than a touch of xenophobia. Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy provide good support. The other characters are good in small humorous roles, except for Penelope Wilton, who plays Nighy's wife, a deeply bitter and resentful woman. Dench and Smith carry most of the movie on their shoulders, each of their stories taking up a good portion of the movie, never intersecting and never boring. It is Smith's story that proves to be more touching as she transforms the most out of the whole group.
The pace of the movie is slow but it can be excused as there are no twists, thrills, or explosions and you want this movie to be slow so that you can focus on what's happening in the background. The movie is shot in Rajasthan and the scenery is breathtaking, and you can see the beauty of the city that's reflected in the surroundings and the people who live in it.
The humour is good but there are several moving moments that are well, if not unexpectedly, placed. John Madden has done a good job in giving the actors enough leeway to do a good job and the editing is good enough that you wish the movie was longer than the two hour running time.
Are there any downsides? Well, Dev Patel was not very good. His Indian accent was overdone and obvious and he hammed a lot. He didn't add much to the star power of the movie so even a competent local actor would have been sufficient. At least he wouldn't have had to fake an accent. In any case it's not as if the audience would have recognized him. I also didn't like Penelope Wilton's character as she never did anything or tried anything to change her attitude or to be a part of the adventure. I also wish that Madden had shot some longer scenes in other parts of the city. Bill Nighy's character would go out to different parts of the city and was impressed with what he saw. I wish that we did too, instead of hearing about it in one sentence.
But, all in all, it's a fine movie to watch. Judging by the crowd I'd say it's a movie for the more senior variety so if anyone reading this fits that category then by all means head over to the closest cinema playing the movie and lose yourself for a couple of hours!