I’ve been very lazy with this. I actually started writing it weeks ago, soon after seeing the film.
Dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Celia Imrie
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and Whatsapp Images
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel follows the story of a group of pensioners who
have established new lives in India. Yes it was predictable, a little twee and
some of the story lines were unrealistic but with such a brilliant cast it was
easy to overlook a few foibles.
In the First Exotic Marigold our pensioners, lured by
advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and imagining a life of
leisure in lush surroundings, arrive to find that the Marigold is actually a
shell of its former self. Though their new home is not quite what they had
imagined, instead of returning home the retirees actually take on the
responsibility of helping Sonny the manic, optimistic owner/manager turn the
hotel around.
Recently widowed Evelyn (Judi Dench) was emotionally and
financially lost as she had, for her entire married life, depended on her
husband for almost everything. She secured a job teaching call centre workers about British
culture. This story line was easy to accept because it was credible that
she would be the perfect person for such a role.
Unhappily married Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) were hoping to find
an affordable retirement after losing most of their savings. The vitriolic Jean
hated everything about their new surroundings and was truly vile to everyone,
and everyone was overjoyed when she went home leaving the hapless Douglas to
pursue Evelyn, with whom he was falling in love.
Madge (Celia Imrie), fed up with unsuccessful marriages
behind her was searching for a new husband.
Muriel (Maggie Smith) needed a hip replacement, and
despite being prejudiced against
Indians and every other person of colour under the sun, had travelled to India where it could
be done quickly and cheaply.
Norman (Ronald Pickup), an aged
lothario struggling to accept his age and undesirability by younger women was
hoping to find new possibilities.
Graham (Tom Wilkinson) a retired high court judge spent
his first eighteen years in India and had returned hoping to find the man he
fell in love with but was forced to abandon.
Sonny (Dev Patel) part
owner and manager of the hotel, is determined to restore it to its former glory.
Sunaina (Tena Desae) is Sonny's girlfriend. She befriends
Evelyn when Evelyn gets a job at the same call centre.
Mrs Kapoor (Lillete Dubey) widowed mother of Sonny. She
admits that Sonny is not her favourite son, and wants him to move back with her
to Delhi for an arranged marriage, not to Sunaina.
As the hotel improves our pensioners,
instead of just relaxing, find employment, interests and love until eventually
each one had found some kind of
solution to their problem. We left them happily basking in the twilight of
their years as the sun sets over their new home in India.
I was looking forward to catching up
with the group and I wasn’t disappointed. In the Second Best Exotic Marigold Evelyn at the age of 79, had landed a
prestigious job travelling the length and breadth of India sourcing fabric
samples for a textile company - mmm this is where you have to suspend
credibility.
Douglas has a job taking
foreign visitors on terrible tours, whilst all the time fretting in his hapless fashion trying
to work out how to make a romantic move on Evelyn.
Jean comes back in the sequel, still nasty and vicious,
but thankfully only stays long enough to request a divorce and boast about a
mythical relationship with a new lover.
Madge’s search for a new husband has resulted in not one
but two suitors, both wealthy, slightly older and competing for her affections.
She wasn’t portrayed very well, playing one off against the other, until
eventually she realises that she has fallen for the modest noble driver who has
been ferrying her around.
Muriel has undergone a major transformation. As a bit of
an expert with figures she helped to turn around the fortunes of the hotel. The
hip replacement was successful and her demeanour is positively euphoric, liking
everyone. At the beginning of the sequel we find her jetting off to New York
with Sonny for high level meetings with financiers to help secure funds for
development of a Marigold Hotel chain. (suspend credibility again).
Norman has met newcomer Carol (Diana
Hardcastle). He is keen to give monogamy a go but she has other ideas. He
follows her, has a misunderstanding with a taxi driver, then it all gets a bit
silly.
Sonny is juggling his forthcoming
wedding to Sunaina and his determination to purchase another run down hotel to
become the Second Exotic Marigold.
Sunaina is busy planning the wedding
whilst Mrs Kapoor, Sonny’s
mother is coming to terms with the approaching nuptials. She also has a
blossoming romance of her own with the gorgeous Richard Gere who may or may not be a hotel inspector
who can help Sonny get approval from investors to open a second hotel. Cue the
arrival of another character, the real hotel inspector played by Tamsin Greig.
For me both films had all the
ingredients for a sweet, funny, feel good experience plus the added bonus of Richard Gere.
Images were sourced from the web.