Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

 

The movie poster phrases “feel-good” and “heart-warming” invariably come to mind after viewing The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, but the descriptions this time round are quite justified, with the film's winning, genial charm due largely to its sterling British cast. A veritable Harry Potter/Downton Abbey treasure trove of veteran thesps, including Judi Dench,Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith, play British retirees lured to a hotel in India, by its ads- “luxury development for residents in their golden years”- only to discover that it's a load of schlock, barely a shadow of its former glory.

After the initial hand-wringing though, the thrown-together group make the best of things in a quintessentially British “keep calm and carry on” manner: bonding with the locals, playing cricket and even stumbling upon love. In less capable hands, all of this 'musty Brits abroad' business, would be predictably trite. But the excellent cast, with Judi Dench at the helm, steer this handsome affair to convincing terrain, as the retirees discover a new lease on life amongst the colour and bustle of the Indian subcontinent.

Ms Dench is at her most tender and sweet here as a fresh widow still reeling from her loss, but starting to crawl out from her shell. She throws herself into this new chapter of her life, embracing the vibrant culture with an open mind, seeking out a job at a call centre, and tentatively engaging in a tender companionship with Bill Nighy's hen-pecked married man. Nighy, with his skinny suits and ruffled look, is brimming with his usual mannerisms here as he keeps up an unhappy marriage that's being held together through staid loyalty. A sharp-tongued Maggie Smith recalls the sour barbs of her Downton Abbey character, availing them for her working-class, wheelchair-bound racist here with aplomb, yet is equally compelling once her softer side is revealed; while Tom Wilkinson's story is most affecting, as a gay man returning to the home of his youth to find his first love. Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup and Penelope Wilton all put in solid performances too and are imminently watchable, but with so many overlapping storylines, it's inevitable that some are relegated to the sidelines.

Tossed into the mix, the standard love story of local young star-crossed lovers (Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame and Tena Desae) also plays out fairly nicely for such well-trod material. Patel is particularly enjoyable as the daffy, but dream-driven Marigold hotel proprietor, and his effusive deliverance of the English language, flamboyantly verbose lines that are lavished on his British guests, is most amusing.

The comedy deftly weaves itself amongst the film's more minor dramatic aspects, and the exotic locations and picture-postcard moments, while at times a little heavy-handed and overplayed, are still nonetheless visually stunning and help set the film along at a gently rocking pace.

It is a pleasant, joyful ride, despite a predictable and slightly rambling script, and features not a few pitch-perfect contemplations and reflections on growing old. The twilight spectres of loneliness and stagnancy are treated with warmth and humour, but also with sensitivity and sapience. Sentimental platitudes may dip into cloying, but they ring true enough when they're delivered by actors of this pedigree. It's the solid turns from an excellent cast that really knits together the film, making it warmly satisfying and really, very charming.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" opens on March 9, 2012.