Review of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) by Walter M — 25 Nov 2013

In "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," a group of English retirees including Muriel(Maggie Smith) who needs a new hip, Madge(Celia Imrie) who is trying to get out of babysitting for her grandchildren and Norman(Ronald Pickup) who has run out of women who will give him the time of day move to India for their golden years. Of them, Graham(Tom Wilkinson), a recently retired high court judge, is the only one who has been to India before and is therefore the only one not shocked at the state of their accommodations. But Sonny(Dev Patel) promises to make improvements as soon as possible.

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is further proof that one can only get so far simply relying on a great cast(that also includes Bill Nighy and Judi Dench) at the top of their prowess and excellent location filming. That is mainly because of an episodic structure that feels more like a television series that Maggie Smith can star in once 'Downton Abbey' eventually runs its course. Admittedly, that would be one that is more unpredictable than average. In any case, the movie only touches on the subjects of the sidelining of the elderly and outsourcing, while inadvertantly showing how senior actors are trivialized; when in fact France is already outsourcing older actresses from England. At least in the "Red" movies, the senior characters get to save the world on occasion.