A good story performed by an outstanding ensemble cast accurately describes “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” This film from director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love” 1998) tells the story of seven retirees from England who move to India to escape the high cost of living in their western country. Answering advertisements, they end up in a retirement hotel in Jaipur, India, expecting a cozy domicile with all the comforts of home. Instead, they find a run-down, roach infested flop house amidst grinding poverty, humidity-laden heat, and spicy foods.
The veteran cast is very appealing, well directed by Madden, and includes Judi Dench as the recently widowed Evelyn, who keeps a diary and narrates the picture, Tom Wilkinson is a retired judge, Maggie Smith is a recently fired housekeeper, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton play an unhappy couple with a 40 year anniversary coming up, Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie are singles, and Dev Patel plays the manager of the hotel. He brings a lot of energy to the picture like he did in “Slumdog Millionaire.” Lillete Dubey, Tena Desae, and Diana Hardcastle round out the cast.
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” was penned by screenwriter Ol Parker, adapted from the 2004 novel “These Foolish Things” by Deborah Moggach. The film was successful at the box office for independent production companies Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Media, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dahbi FZ, Blueprint Pictures, and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. A sequel was released in 2015.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
cinema
My Review
A good story performed by an outstanding ensemble cast accurately describes “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” This film from director John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love” 1998) tells the story of seven retirees from England who move to India to escape the high cost of living in their western country. Answering advertisements, they end up in a retirement hotel in Jaipur, India, expecting a cozy domicile with all the comforts of home. Instead, they find a run-down, roach infested flop house amidst grinding poverty, humidity-laden heat, and spicy foods.
The veteran cast is very appealing, well directed by Madden, and includes Judi Dench as the recently widowed Evelyn, who keeps a diary and narrates the picture, Tom Wilkinson is a retired judge, Maggie Smith is a recently fired housekeeper, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton play an unhappy couple with a 40 year anniversary coming up, Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie are singles, and Dev Patel plays the manager of the hotel. He brings a lot of energy to the picture like he did in “Slumdog Millionaire.” Lillete Dubey, Tena Desae, and Diana Hardcastle round out the cast.
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” was penned by screenwriter Ol Parker, adapted from the 2004 novel “These Foolish Things” by Deborah Moggach. The film was successful at the box office for independent production companies Dune Entertainment, Ingenious Media, Participant Media, Imagenation Abu Dahbi FZ, Blueprint Pictures, and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures. A sequel was released in 2015.