It’s always nice when the shape announces the filling, to paraphrase Ogden Nash, and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel delivers as it promises, and for that, this reviewer gives the film full credit. I loved the first film, and not just because I had heard about it well in advance from director John Madden, who, in addition to being a talented director, is a very nice guy. The film rests on several assumptions I support with enthusiasm: love is awesome, it’s never too late to have an adventure, imagination is wonderful, it’s OK to make mistakes, and complainers are boring wankers.
The first film brought an unlikely cohort of characters, portrayed by a stellar cast, complete with financial, physical and emotional ailments galore to the hotel-in-progress of Sonny Kapur (Dev Patel), who takes outsourcing to new frontiers, offering cut rate retirement in exotic India. Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy et al, made for an incredibly feel-good movie with seriously juicy roles for these wonderful actors, and just enough friction to keep it from sliding into sentimental mush. Sequels are always tough to handle, after all, the problems have pretty much been solved by the end of the first film, so where can this plot go?
Anywhere it wants, really. Yes, there are some contrived plots, some predictable moments, and a bit of the banal, but although it is indeed ‘second best,’ I really enjoyed the film. Why? Not just because Richard Gere sends a delectable frisson up my spine every time he appears onscreen, and David Straitharn adds some spice. The characters in this film, from the prickly Murel Donnelly (Maggie Smith), to the warm and open Evelyn (Judi Dench), the confused and kind Douglas (Bill Nighy), the slutty Madge (Celia Imrie) and the hopelessly-inept-but-his-heart-is-in-the-right-place Sonny, have entered my heart and imagination and I’m only too glad to spend a couple of hours in their company.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opens in Israeli theatres on Thursday, March 12, 2015.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
(USA, 122 min, 2015, English with Hebrew subtitles)
Directed by John Madden; Screenplay: Ol Parker; Story: Ol Parker, John Madden, based on characters created in Deborah Moggach’s novel; Cinematography: Ben Smithard; Editor: Victoria Boydell; Music, Thomas Newman; Cast: Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, Tina Desai, Diana Hardcastle. Lillete Dubey, Tamsin Greig, Shazad Latif, David Strathairn, Richard Gere.
