The Second Best Exotic Hotel Marigold

26 June 2015

The Second Best Exotic Hotel Marigold (2015)

• Director: John Madden
• Based on Book: Deborah Moggach
• Cast: Maggie Smith, Judie Dench, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton, Dev Patel, Tena Desae, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Richard Gere, Tamsin Grieg, David Strathairn
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor/actress in:
• Maggie Smith – no list necessary but here are a few highlights: Harry Potter 1-8 of  course, A Room with a View, Gosford Park, Keeping Mum, David Copperfield, Tea with Mussolini, Richard III, Sister Act, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
• Judi Dench, ditto: Cranford, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Ladies in Lavender, The Shipping News, Chocolat, Tea with Mussolini, Shakespeare in Love, Mrs. Brown, 84 Charing Cross Road, A Room with a View, Macbeth
• Bill Nighy – The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold, Harry Potter, Love Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Girl in the Café, The Boat that Rocked, Shaun of the Dead, The Constant Gardener, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Auf Wiedersehn Pet, Kiss Me Kate, Longitude, Fairy Tale a True Story
• Dev Patel: Slumdog Millionaire, The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold
• Ronald Pickup: Hustle, Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Ivanhoe
• Celie Imrie:  The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold, Cranford, Nanny McPhee, Wah-Wah, Daniel Deronda, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Calendar Girls, Absolutely Fabulous, Hilary and Jackie, In the Bleak Midwinter, Frankenstein, Upstairs Downstairs
• Tena Desae - The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold
• Tamsin Grieg -  Friday Night Dinner, Black Books, Shaun of the Dead
• Richard Gere – I’m Not There, Chicago, Runaway Bride, Sommersby, Final Analysis, Pretty Woman, Looking for Mr Goodbar
• Penelope Wilton - The Best Exotic Hotel Marigold , Downton Abbey, South Riding, Shaun of the Dead, The Calendar Girls, Clockwise, King Lear, Othello, The French Lieutenant’s Woman
• David Strathairn – The Tempest, Good Night and Good Luck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, LA Confidential, Mother Night, Dolores Claiborne, A League of Their Own, Stars and Bars, Matewan, Silkwood
• Why: Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and the first movie.
• Seen: 20 June 2015 at the cinema with Hal and friends B-IS and ÖB 

Oh, I love Maggie Smith. And Judi Dench and Bill Nighy and all the rest.  We’ve seen most of this before in the first Marigold Hotel but it’s more than worth seeing again. It’s a series of different stories – various love stories and the expansion of the hotel are just enough for the actors to do their magic. And they do.

The film didn’t get such great reviews and I don’t know why not.  I’m not fond of weddings, especially the lavish kind shown in this film, but even an old cynic like me sheds a tear or two when Dench and Nighy finally… well I won’t tell you.

It pushes all our buttons but I’m more than happy to be manipulated by these actors. A snappy string of droll and biting one-liners spice it up and Maggie Smith’s uncertain fate… well, this is more than just a feel-good movie.

It’s a must-see really.

4* of 5