REVIEW: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

 There are no spoilers in this review.

PLOT: British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.


THE GOOD: Acting. With an ensemble cast including Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, and Dev Patel, it was almost impossible to have bad acting in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. The actors are what really sell this movie and all of their performances are nothing short of fantastic. This movie will not exactly shine in any one actor's career, but the talent for a film like this certainly helps its cause. I especially enjoyed Maggie Smith's character who sort of plays similar to her Downton Abbey character of Violet Crawley, but maybe even meaner. She almost always got a laugh out of the audience whenever she was on screen. Ronald Pickup was also rather funny in his role. Tom Wilkinson has one of the more serious story arcs in the movie, but it's so incredibly moving, it feels like there was barely any effort on his part.

I bet if I walked by this group and asked for a Werther's Original, I'd get one.

Stories and location. I say "stories" instead of "story" because there are multiple things happening here. Each characters has their own thing going on. They also all start out with different reasons for going to India. Some are more mysterious than others, but the setting and location really changes a lot of their people. Most of them for the better, but not all. Judi Dench's character seems to be the main one as we hear a lot of narrating from her as she writes in her weblog. Her story is probably the least memorable along with Celia Imrie's, but that's probably the worst of it. Everyone has really compelling plot, even the local one from Dev Patel. Marigold Hotel is set in Bangalore, but the film was actually shot in Udaipur and Jaipur. There is a certain charm to these places that makes me wish to visit.

Writing. The actors in the movie are helped with some incredibly witty and natural dialogue. Ol Parker wrote the film which is based on the 2004 novel, These Foolish Things, by Deborah Moggach. Parker wrote and directed 2005's Imagine Me & You and will be doing the same for Jenny Downham's novel Before I Die with the movie Now is Good coming out later in May. There are a few things that I probably would have touched up in the story, but for the most part, the screenplay is good. One of the major themes of the movie is that it's never too late to have a life-changing experience. I think that is true for all of the characters in this movie and a thought that I can appreciate and look forward to.

The best exotic thing about this film is definitely Dame Judi Dench. MEEE-OWWW!

THE BAD: Nothing. That's not to say that there aren't things about this movie that are just okay. Like, the cinematography, the editing, the score, the directing. They're all passable, but nothing that really stands out.


THE END: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a lovely film that was, for a short time, my favorite movie of the year until I saw The Cabin in the Woods (review coming soon). If you like ensemble cast romantic comedies like Love Actually, this movie will be right up your alley. In fact, I've heard some call this movie "Love Geriatrically." Yes, the majority of characters are British retirees, but you'll be able to relate to them regardless of age. The film has already earned over $61 million worldwide which goes to show how accessible this movie is. It will see a decent release here in the U.S. on May 4th. Go see it.


DISCUSS: What did you think of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel? What did you think of the acting? Who was your favorite character? What did you think of the ending? Would you recommend this film to others? What other films would you say this is similar to?

This screen cap comes from the end of the film right after Dev Patel's character slays all of the old British actors and steals their dentures.