Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Hums and Bustles in a Fine Sari

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel houses seven stately Brits who mostly like each other, and we easily like them.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel houses seven stately Brits who mostly like each other, and we easily like them.
Movie

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ***

thumbnail

Or, <em>Grand Hotel </em>meets <em>Downton Abbey </em>in the old Merchant & Ivory curry kitchen. An aging bunch of swell Brits (though Penelope Wilton is a sour pickle) gather at a pretty, decaying hotel in Udaipur, India, for sunset lessons in living. It is very tidy and quaintly picturesque but humanly engaging. Ace work (directed by John Madden) from Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Ronald Pickup, Bill Nighy, Tena Desae, terrific Tom Wilkinson, and the cute hotel manager, Dev Patel.

Find showtimes

The pieces of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel fit together enjoyably. Here is something for those who love Downton Abbey (and Upstairs Downstairs) and something for those who love Slumdog Millionaire. Add elements of Merchant and Ivory movies and The Darjeeling Limited and, from Garbo days, Grand Hotel.

Sponsored
Sponsored

All-important is the use of British actors who can show up, toss around excellent vowels and consonants, and deliver charm, if not, in this case, art. Director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) shows a firm hand. India (Udaipur, in Rajasthan) packs in all the spiced color needed for tidy exoticism, though the musical score may add a little too much curry.

Seven senior Brits come to the decaying Marigold, a sagging marvel of nooks and arches with a great lake view. After inevitable gags about language and hot food and crowding and bad phones and diarrhea, each visitor gets a back story (gently examined) that is rounded to a life-affirming conclusion. By then they mostly like each other, and we easily like them.

It is never clear why Penelope Wilton is such a sour pickle, since her forgiving husband, Bill Nighy, is the most infallibly charming Englishman since David Niven.

Maggie Smith drops the marble crust of her Downton Abbey and Gosford Park pedigree and squawks working-class as a loyal domestic who got dumped. In India for a hip replacement, she also replaces her racism. Which is nice, although her conversion from snotty scold to take-charge angel is rather convenient.

Dame Judi Dench is again a fine dame, jolly-chipper all the way. Ronald Pickup is a cute rogue randy for one last fling. A little too good for the general level is Tom Wilkinson. He instills 40 years of longing and regret into his dignified bachelor, who needs Mother India to heal an old wound of the heart.

Good sights include beautiful Tena Desae. Skinny, funny Dev Patel of Slumdog is the harried heir who strives to make the old hotel shine again. I’d love to introduce him to innkeeper Ava Gardner in Night of the Iguana. She doesn’t give a flying fig that her place is falling apart, so long as tequila and young studs keep coming. Aesthetically, this is a two-star film, but it hums and bustles in a fine sari and so:

★★★

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gilbert Castellanos, Buddha Trixie, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, Shane Hall, Brian Jones Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

Grand Socials, gigs, and record releases in Del Mar, City Heights, Solana Beach, Little Italy, and Ocean Beach
Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel houses seven stately Brits who mostly like each other, and we easily like them.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel houses seven stately Brits who mostly like each other, and we easily like them.
Movie

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel ***

thumbnail

Or, <em>Grand Hotel </em>meets <em>Downton Abbey </em>in the old Merchant & Ivory curry kitchen. An aging bunch of swell Brits (though Penelope Wilton is a sour pickle) gather at a pretty, decaying hotel in Udaipur, India, for sunset lessons in living. It is very tidy and quaintly picturesque but humanly engaging. Ace work (directed by John Madden) from Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Ronald Pickup, Bill Nighy, Tena Desae, terrific Tom Wilkinson, and the cute hotel manager, Dev Patel.

Find showtimes

The pieces of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel fit together enjoyably. Here is something for those who love Downton Abbey (and Upstairs Downstairs) and something for those who love Slumdog Millionaire. Add elements of Merchant and Ivory movies and The Darjeeling Limited and, from Garbo days, Grand Hotel.

Sponsored
Sponsored

All-important is the use of British actors who can show up, toss around excellent vowels and consonants, and deliver charm, if not, in this case, art. Director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) shows a firm hand. India (Udaipur, in Rajasthan) packs in all the spiced color needed for tidy exoticism, though the musical score may add a little too much curry.

Seven senior Brits come to the decaying Marigold, a sagging marvel of nooks and arches with a great lake view. After inevitable gags about language and hot food and crowding and bad phones and diarrhea, each visitor gets a back story (gently examined) that is rounded to a life-affirming conclusion. By then they mostly like each other, and we easily like them.

It is never clear why Penelope Wilton is such a sour pickle, since her forgiving husband, Bill Nighy, is the most infallibly charming Englishman since David Niven.

Maggie Smith drops the marble crust of her Downton Abbey and Gosford Park pedigree and squawks working-class as a loyal domestic who got dumped. In India for a hip replacement, she also replaces her racism. Which is nice, although her conversion from snotty scold to take-charge angel is rather convenient.

Dame Judi Dench is again a fine dame, jolly-chipper all the way. Ronald Pickup is a cute rogue randy for one last fling. A little too good for the general level is Tom Wilkinson. He instills 40 years of longing and regret into his dignified bachelor, who needs Mother India to heal an old wound of the heart.

Good sights include beautiful Tena Desae. Skinny, funny Dev Patel of Slumdog is the harried heir who strives to make the old hotel shine again. I’d love to introduce him to innkeeper Ava Gardner in Night of the Iguana. She doesn’t give a flying fig that her place is falling apart, so long as tequila and young studs keep coming. Aesthetically, this is a two-star film, but it hums and bustles in a fine sari and so:

★★★

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

A poem for March by Joseph O’Brien

“March’s Lovely Asymptotes”
Next Article

The Digital Currency Wave Hits the Shores of San Diego

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.