Rental Review - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), PG-13, 124 minutes - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a movie that my fiance and I have had been meaning to check out via NetFlix for quite a while.  We've actually had it here at the house for almost a month, we just hadn't been in what we thought the proper mood was for a two hour long movie about the elderly staying at a hotel in India.  Last night we finally felt like we were ready to give it a shot and I kind of wish we hadn't waited so long.

This movie follows seven people from England all at varying stages of later life.  For differing and independent reasons they all decide to travel to India to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful.  Evelyn (Judi Dench) is a widow who is trying to prove to her son that she doesn't need someone to constantly look after her.  Graham (Tom Wilkinson) is a retired lawyer returning to the country in which he grew up, searching for the love of his life.  Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) are a retired couple who have no savings after they invested in their daughter's online start-up that didn't pan out.  Muriel (Maggie Smith) needs hip replacement surgery and is referred to a doctor in India who can perform the surgery at a significantly reduced cost.  Norman (Ronald Pickup) and Madge (Celia Imrie) are both lonely and wondering if their days of being able to find companionship are over.  The hotel that they are all flocking to (because of the wonderful website and brochures) is actually a rundown shell of what the marketing shows and is run by Sonny (Dev Patel) who inherited the building, and the dreams for its success from his father.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel functions under the convenience that all of these people find the hotel and end up at the same place at the same time to find something that they feel is missing from their lives, but the cast is excellent (seriously, how could you not expect a solid film with this group?) and the situations and interactions that arise as they adjust to their surroundings and to each other are entertaining, often humorous, and even thought provoking at times.   After the first ten to fifteen minutes of set up, the movie really does move along at a good pace and doesn't feel as long as it is.  If you like the trailer, then definitely try to make time to give this a watch, as you'll see more of the same.  The trailer caught our eye when it first came out and then we ended up missing it in theaters.  I'm glad we were finally able to find the time for it.