Score: 3/5
The “Second Best” title rings true for the new John Madden-directed movie.
Madden’s “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is the sequel to his previously directed “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
The franchise is based on Deborah Moggach’s novel, “These Foolish Things.”
It picks up in the same place the first left off — in India with Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup, Richard Gere and Diana Hardcastle living out their lives as retirees in the hotel.
With the success of the hotel and most of the rooms permanently occupied, owner Sonny Kapoor, played by Dev Patel, wishes to expand the business into a second location nearby.
The opening scene kicks off with Sonny and Muriel Donnelly, played by Maggie Smith, making a trip to San Diego in search of an endorsement from international hotel magnate Ty Burley, played by David Strathairn, to provide the resources for expanding.
Burley tells them he will send his “guy,” an unknown individual who will come to inspect the hotel and decide whether or not it’s worthy of expansion.
Sonny and Muriel return to India to begin preparing for Sonny’s upcoming marriage to his fiance Sunaina, played by Tina Desai.
Shortly after, two American inspectors check in, Lavinia Beech, played by Tamsin Grieg, and Guy Chambers, played by Richard Gere and pose as normal guests.
Sonny immediately pins Chambers as the “guy” that Burley said he would send and begins devoting his time to appeasing him and ultimately dismissing Beech.
He becomes so preoccupied with the task of earning Chambers’s endorsement and expanding the hotel that it creates a rift between him and Sunaina.
The remaining cast members each deal with their own individual adventures, falling in love and beginning new careers.
While the movie is definitely aimed at older audiences, there are life lessons for everyone. It’s a light-hearted film that reminds us time is not on our side, but it is never too late to embark on a new journey in life.
However, the movie is predictable and only mildly funny to younger audiences.
The banter between Maggie Smith and Judi Dench’s characters adds a playful mood to the film in the midst of dealing with more serious problems. However, the actions of the characters play out as easily as one would expect a Nicholas Sparks novel to.
It is also runs for more than two hours, making the plotline unnecessarily stretched out and the denouement seem like a distant dream.
All of the characters have intertwining love stories which follow the classic dramatic structure. Each of them is too timid to admit their feelings for one another despite frequent flirtations, then they part ways until the realization of their feelings, and ultimately return to each other in a heartwarming reunion.
Overall, “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is a film which should only be seen if the other movies playing are sold out.