The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Directed by: John Madden
Written By: Ol Parker
Rated: PG 122 minutes
I really enjoyed the ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ back in
2012. It made me laugh and gave me a lump in the throat at times plus it made
me want to get me over to India. The rapport between the actors, especially
between Maggie Smith and Judi Dench along with Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy,
Penelope Wilton and Ronald Pickup, was luscious. Throw into that the talented
Dev Patel and you had magic.
Three years later along comes the sequel and not a lot has
changed, it’s really just a variation on the theme with a bit of extra spice
thrown in thanks to the marriage collapse between Nighy and Wilton and the
tasty Richard Gere adding a certain ‘frisson’. Of the originals only Tom
Wilkinson is missing lest they resurrect his dead character. The grey brigade
has zing and uses smart lines, knowing looks and a bit of old fashioned acting
talent to deliver what the young things might need CGI and stunts to deliver.
It’s an old fashioned concept called damned good entertainment.
Briefly the residents of the Marigold Hotel are getting on
with the daily doings while Sonny (Patel) is sussing out another property for
his vision of a second Marigold. Concurrently he and his gorgeous fiancée Sunaina
(Tena Desai) are in the final stages of their wedding preparations. Of course
it won’t go smoothly on either front.
Richard Gere plays Guy an American writer (or is he?) and
checks in at the same time as Lavinia (Tamsin Grieg) who provide the nits in
the mattresses (fly in the ointment – get it?). I’m not sure Gere was right for
the role, he seemed to me to stand out too much, his presence was too large for
the rest of the film. I’m not sure if it was just his acting style (there were
a few mannered facial expressions), perhaps he tried too hard but it jarred for
me. Tamsin Grieg on the other hand slipped in amongst it all and worked well.
Alright I have to profess my adoration for the divine Ms G, she can do no wrong
but I honestly think she did very well. I am a fan of Mr Gere as well mind, he
is one of the better film actors of his generation. I just didn’t like him in
this.
All the returning actors were terrific, the script was tight
and funny as well as moving when required (I think at times it tended to heavy
handedness but managed to pull back enough). The direction was particularly
accomplished and finely tuned; nothing was missed or lost here. A comedy such
as this could have easily been left to tell itself but director John Madden kept
a firm hold on it all. The cinematography was breathtakingly good and the
ending hand me wanting to dance, dance dance.
There is a danger in having the words ‘second best’ in the
title of a sequel. There will naturally be disappointments in any sequel and
maybe human nature has us looking for the shortcomings. I might quibble over
the length of the story and the stretches in logic and the occasional missing ‘truths’.
In the end this film made me laugh a lot and I needed that on that day; it
lifted my spirits and made me very happy that I live at the same time as the
actors in it and the makers of it.
And yep, I still want to go to India.
3 ½ out of 4
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