Review of The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) by Dawdlingpoet — 26 Nov 2021

This is a gentle comedy drama film with themes including camaraderie and entrepreneurship. It is obviously a sequel to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and it features quite a few of the same characters from the original film. It features some quite pretty indian landscapes and a number of sub-plots, some of which are more interesting than others. I felt it was quite watchable and entertaining, although not exactly major laugh out loud style funny, it was certainly relatively amusing. I think there is something funny, in an observational comedy sort of a way, about seeing British people who are quite entrenched in their ways, having to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings, which applies to this film in as much as Muriel is dragged long, with young entrepreneur Sonny, to the US to try to get financial support from businesses. Lets say she is less than impressed with what she sees there.

Its quite light hearted (for the most part) and I enjoyed seeing how the characters various relationships had adjusted and the changes that had taken place since the first film (the sequel is set roughly a few months after the end of the first film). The film features, of course, mainly eastern music, Indian including Bhangra music and the like, which definitely does re-inforce the 'exotic' aspect of the films title.

I liked the steely determinism showed by some of the characters - there's something re-assuring about that. Some of the male characters get in a bit of a flap and I enjoyed it, from the point of view that its not necessarily all that often that the husbands find themselves in a tizzy, while the wives (or partners) carry on, headstrong and happy. Whether its a film that appeals more to women, compared to men, I'm not entirely sure - I wouldn't say its utterly a feminist type of a film, that would probably be a case of over-analysing it a bit but I certainly enjoyed it enough in any case. Men aren't exclusively depicted as idiots, so it didn't bother me too much.

Cast wise, the film features a couple of new characters, namely Richard Gere as Guy Chambers and Tamsin Greig as Lavinia Beech. I enjoyed their scenes, although they don't feature in as much of the film as you may, perhaps, hope - most of the film features the original cast, including Maggie Smith as Muriel Donnelly, Judi Dench as Evelyn Greenslade and Bill Nighy as Douglas Ainslie. All give decent, solid performances.

There are some subtitles present, during scenes involving trade deals, although it doesn't make up the majority of the film, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. It is also a bit sentimental, perhaps a little too sweet (as in saccharine sweet) for some peoples taste near the end. Content wise, there is little present which is likely to offend or upset people. There is no real strong language or violence present, although one or two minor crude references perhaps but it certainly didn't seem at all frightening or graphic. Due to this, it carries a PG rating - I think it makes for a pretty decent family film, although it may not particularly interest very young viewers due to it being mainly character and dialogue driven, not featuring much in the way of CGI/large scale visual effects.

The film has the feel of a Sunday evening TV show - think of shows like 'Wild at Heart' and 'The Good Karma Hospital'. There are no major plot twists that make it too depressing or upsetting a watch and it definitely has that slight uplifting feel common in such Sunday evening viewing, only it features some high profile cast members. It is quite a symbolic film, with some poignant dialogue, much like the first film was/is and I liked that.

Yes I'd recommend this film, if you enjoyed the first one then the chances are, you'd enjoy this follow up. Its quite light hearted, amusing at times and not too depressing or upsetting, plus it features some good cinematography. Its probably not quite as funny as the original film but its still a decent watch.