Chuckles Film Reviews

This will be, I hope, a recurring feature that will be on the blog each time I watch a film. I used to love films so much and could watch a pile of them in my spare time. However with my focus on reading, I find little time to enjoy films that are new to me but now I need to start clearing the unwatched pile and get some space back!

This week! Last Sunday I actually watched FOUR films in one night, which is outstanding!  Here are the next two reviews.

1) The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Starring Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie and Dev Patel.

Seven older people decide for various reasons to pack up and retire to a hotel in India that caters to the retired and elderly. When they arrive they try to adapt, with varying degrees of success, to the heat, customs, food, language and the people of India, especially the lively hotel manager Sonny.

I read part of the book that the film is based on but didn't really like it much and DNFed. I wasn't crazy keen to watch this but I like a lot of the actors in it so I thought I'd give it a try when I found a boxset cheap with both films in it. I did mostly like the film.

Naturally I liked and understood the dry British wit and humour, which is never over the top and in your face, something that I don't enjoy in American comedy. I liked seeing the issues that the people were faced with ie NHS waiting lists, the depressing idea of sheltered housing when still active, the prospect of living your later years alone or that final chance to go and find your dream. I think a lot of viewers would be able to relate to things like that and enjoy the humour inserted into the situation.

It was the characters that made this work. Poor kind Douglas, the henpecked husband facing retirement with the shrill harpy wife Jean. Douglas is excited by life in India and wants to explore the culture but Jean only wants to whine and complain about everything, while trying to catch the eye of Graham. Graham has suddenly quit his job and relocated to India to find the man he had a forbidden love affair with. Muriel is the rude, sharp tongued racist who starts to see the people of India in a more favourable light. Evelyn is lonely and tries to find a job to give her a feeling of self worth, common as muck ladies man Norman is determined to find a woman and Madge is determined to find a wealthy husband. Hapless hotel manager Sonny is trying to prove to his mother than he can run a chain of hotels while trying to gain her approval to marry the girl he loves.  

I loved all the older characters and got caught up in their personal dramas. The forbidden love story of Graham (Tom Wilkinson) and Manoj was touching and totally heartbreaking. Maggie Smith was perfect as the old battleaxe Muriel who is determined to be a bitch but gradually mellows into a nicer person thanks to her connection to her silent low caste  servant. It was painful to see Douglas being henpecked by Jean when you knew that he and Evelyn would be perfect for each other. I loved seeing Madge and Norman out on the pull looking for a partner. It was important to see Sonny's problems with his demanding mother, and his determination to marry his choice, not hers, but I admit that at times I found Sonny to be a little annoying.

Overall it was an entertaining film and I'm glad that I watched it.


2) The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Starring Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Dev Patel, Richard Gere and David Strathairn.

Sonny is trying to expand his hotel empire with a second purchase and tries to get financial backing from overseas investors. The residents of the hotel are coming to terms with their relationships, health issues and their futures.

The residents of the hotel continue with their jobs and romances, facing new challenges from hotel expansion and health issues, while the frantic Sonny tries not to ruin his career and his engagement. Sonny is paranoid when the handsome and successful Kushal spends time with his fiancee Sunaina and his jealousy threatens the wedding itself. Sonny actually drove me mad in this film with his dumb behaviour and the way he treats one of the female guests. Two guests arrive at the same time and Sonny is convinced that the hotel inspector is Guy so he grovels to him while being obnoxious to the female guest to Muriel's horror. You just know that this situation is going to come back to bite Sonny and it was hard to find much sympathy for him in this film when he was being an arse.

I liked seeing the other guests dealing with their own issues. A health check brings some worries for Muriel while Evelyn and Douglas seem to be making a mess of every opportunity to get together to my total frustration! Now that Norman is in a cozy relationship with Carol, he starts to regret being tied to one woman. A drunken conversation with a local man leads Norman to believe that he has accidently taken out a hit on Carol, and this plotline was really funny! Celia has the attention of several men but is struggling to decide who is the best bet to marry and confides her problems to her driver. I liked this side story too. The arrival of Guy, played by Richard Gere, gets everyone in a frenzy. There is a lot going on in this film but a lot of it was interesting.

Other than the hit man story, my favourite bit was the wedding itself. I used to watch Bollywood films late at night when I had insomnia and I loved the song and dance numbers with all the amazing costumes. The wedding dance in this film was brilliant and I loved seeing everyone get up and dance. So much more exciting than any wedding I ever went to!

Another decent film to watch to pass a night.