The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Released: February 2012

Directed By: John Madden

Starring: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy

Certificate: 12A

Reviewed By: Ross Goddard

Sometimes when you see a cast list for a movie, you just go wow, this was exactly what I thought when I saw the top crop of seasoned actors and actresses who were going to be involved this movie. No worries about the performances then. But does the actual story do the cast justice?
Set mostly in India, a group of British retirees, decide to pack up and move to a retirement hotel inappropriately called The Best Exotic Marigold hotel, for thier own personal reasons. They all find out the hotel isn’t what they thought it would be, in fact it is a run down crumbling hotel, with a lot of character, which initially charms most of the guests. They start to form friendships and begin to find out that there is more going on than meets the eye.
The story based on the novel ‘These Foolish Things’ by Deborah Moggach, is quite charming and can be very funny. It’s the older, experienced actor who can deliver a funny line just brilliantly, or even tug on the emotional strings of the audience. The scenes that get me the most are the ones with the simply magnificent Tom Wilkinson, as Graham, a retired judge.  Just every line is delivered quite monumentally.  You also have the two Dame’s – Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, who always show what an actress should aspire to. Dev Patel deserves a mention here, as the hotel hyper-active bumbling hotel manager Sonny, who you sympathise with a lot throughout the movie.
A lot to digest in this movie!  Focusing on a lot of different small story lines with quite a few main characters, that could be a problem for the audience.  John Madden will help India to get a few more tourists in the next few months, as it is used quite well for the movie setting.
Great cast, decent story, of course it’s a grown up movie and will mostly attract the older generation, but if your a younger person stuck what to see at the cinema, give this a punt. The Marigold hotel will welcome you in and make you want to stay.