An Acceptable Familiar "Marigold Hotel"

I'm of two different minds about "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." The social justice, anti-Orientalism, some-of-my-best-friends-are-South-Asian part of me wants to point out how shallow and exoticized the portrayal of India is, and how little the film really shows of the country. Aside from a few nods to modern industrialization, like call centers, this could easily be mistaken for the India of thirty or forty years ago. Every Indian character we meet fits a broad ethnic stereotype, particularly Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel), the enthusiastic young manager of the dilapidated Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, who bills it as a luxury retirement home for Britain's elderly on a budget.

Sonny's efforts draw an initial batch of seven residents: Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton), who put all their savings in their daughter's internet start-up, Evelyn (Judi Dench), recently widowed and looking for a new start, Norman (Ronald Pickup) and Madge (Celia Imrie), both older singles looking to get back in the game, Graham (Tom Wilkinson), a retired judge who is the only one of them to have lived in India previously, and finally Muriel (Maggie Smith), who doesn't trust foreigners and only plans to stay long enough for her hip replacement surgery and recuperation. And with such a sterling collection of British actors as this, "Marigold Hotel" can't help but succeed in spite of itself.

Sure, there are problematic elements aplenty here, but they're in service of such a harmless, unassuming little fantasy story for viewers of a certain age, why belabor them? If the Indian characters are simplistic, the British ones certainly are too. After arriving in picturesque Jaipur and finding the accommodations are not as advertised, the new residents, with one exception, buckle down to make the best of things, and find their lives newly invigorated. The central contrivance of the story serves only to get these characters to India, and is practically forgotten once they get there. Each of the seven arrivals go off to play out their own little storylines, which occasionally intersect with each other. There's also one for Sonny and his girlfriend Sunaina (Tena Desae), a love interest who does not have the approval of Sonny's mother (Lillete Dubey).

The individual stories are very small in scope, very modest and agreeable. Evelyn signs on at the local call center, her first job ever, and thrives there. Graham goes in search of a lost love. Douglas and Jean confront their marital troubles. Everyone steers well clear of any thorny social or cultural issues, except in the most benign ways. Muriel's racism must be cured, of course, so she becomes friendly with a servant girl from a low caste. The backgrounds of Sonny and Sunaina are never stated explicitly, but we can draw our own conclusions. There are references to more unpleasant truths, but we never see any of it up close. So we can comfortably put "Marigold Hotel" in the same category with other feel-good fantasy travelogues like "Eat, Pray, Love," and "My House in Umbria."

I think "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" only comes off as well as it does because of the talent involved, because it is Maggie Smith having that inevitable change of heart, and Judi Dench at the call center, and Bill Nighy exploring the city. Having all of these actors onscreen together is a treat, even if they don't get the chance to play off each other as much as I would've liked to see. Director John Madden, best known for his period pieces like "Shakespeare in Love" and "The Debt," avoids giving us either a picture book idealization of India, or the squalor of the opposite extreme. Madden's conception of Jaipur is a place that is always in motion, so we get lots of trips on buses and trains, and scenes at the hotel always seem to involve someone setting off or just getting back. It helps the pacing too, making the film feel more lively and exciting.

I liked "Marigold Hotel" for all the reasons I usually like these smaller British comedies - the dialogue, the humor, the performances, and the lighter touch with the sentimental bits. However, for all the wonderful actors who appear, it's a very slight movie, one that I really don't see having any reason to exist except that it gives the filmmakers an excuse to get this cast together and visit India. And that's perfectly fine, though I suspect that the behind-the-scenes stories from making "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" are probably much more interesting than the actual movie.
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