The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Many times it seems as though a film maker will dream up a movie just so he can have a decisive shot, and the story of the movie can almost write itself after that.  There is such a shot near the beginning of "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", a film with a long title and a lot to say.  Once all of the principal characters (save one) have been introduced, all of them have something in common.  They all seek an escape from their present condition.  They all read a promising brochure from India concerning a retirement community.  So, all of the main characters decide to book flights and move to Jaipur, India.  As they arrive at the airport, all of the characters take a seat in the airport terminal.  The camera shows us a wide shot of all of the characters sitting next to each other.  They do not know each other yet, but they soon will, and they have exciting things in store.

We had received this movie from Netflix, and it sat on our counter for a few days.  Then, Christmas Night, Steph and I decided to watch it.  I'm glad we did.  It was a perfect end to a wonderful Christmas.  This movie has nothing to do with Christmas, but the leisurely pace of the movie coupled with the emotional realism in it were a perfect fit for us.  The movie is an ensemble piece, so there are several stories to follow.  Evelyn (Judi Dench) is a recently widowed house wife who finds out her late husband left her a lot of debts.  She sees The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as a way to live within her means.  Graham (Tom Wilkenson) is a gay lawyer who suddenly decides to retire, and decides to return to his boyhood home of Jaipur, India to settle some old struggles from his past.  Jean and Doug (Penelope Wilton and Bill Nighy) are also seeking affordable retirement, as Doug had sunk a lot of their nest egg into their daughter's internet start up company.  Muriel (Maggie Smith) is a racist woman who needs a hip replacement.  When the NHS doctor tells her she will be on a 6 month waiting list, she decides to bite the bullet and travel to India to have the hip replacement done right away, even though it will be performed by people of color.  Madge (Celia Imrie) is a grandmother who loves her grandchildren, but is tired of her kids pawning them off on her.  She goes to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to seek an escape, and a husband.  Finally, Norman (Ronald Pickup) is an aging ladies' man (so he thinks), who goes to India looking for action.  They all end up at The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, a complex owned and operated by Sonny (Dev Patel).  He is a young entrepreneur who desperately wants to accomplish his vision for the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  He also is in love with a woman of whom his mother does not approve.  All of these plot lines are woven together effectively to make an enjoyable story.  This is not a life changing movie, and you probably won't see it nominated for any Oscars, but it is a pleasant story that features very good actors.

The thing that makes the movie special is the subtext of the movie.  I'll take one of the many plot lines to show what I mean.  The plot line involving Evelyn is very true to life.  There is so much depth to her story that the viewer could imagine seeing a movie just about her character.  As Evelyn mourns the loss of her husband of over 40 years (on a side note, its interesting how a couple of the movies I have seen recently feature characters who were married the same amount of time as my parents were before my Dad died in June), there is so much wealth to the scenes she is in.  For instance, watch the scene in which Evelyn is calling her internet company to change her account.  As she attempts to make the change in her account, the operator informs her that since she is not the primary name on the account, she cannot make any changes to the account.  She tries to delicately say that the person in whose name the account is cannot make the changes, but when the operator insists on pushing the policy, Evelyn has to tell her that the primary account holder is dead.  However, even after that, the operator still goes back to the boilerplate script.  This brought back memories of the several calls I had to make after dad's death regarding insurance, social security, health insurance, etc...and the film nails it.  There is a business like element to it all that is at once necessary and unbelievably harsh.  This is just one small area where this film is incredibly true to life.

The characters in the film all develop and are forced to deal with their own personal crises.  This is what gives the film its realism.  All of the characters (even the ones put in the film for comic relief) are true to life, and that is what makes a movie like this work.  This is the sort of movie that seems like a good movie when you watch it, but the more the viewer thinks about it, the more one can reflect on how much great material there is in the movie.  Check it out!