The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2015 - Dir: John Madden - 2 hour 2 minutes
Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 10th July, 2015

We’re not great fans of sequels at The FeckenOdeon. They very often turn out to be a pale and prolonged rehash of the original film - the idea just doesn’t sustain and should have been left to rest in peace. There are always exceptions to rules and tonight’s film is one. The characters are so well drawn and the actors, with millions of screen hours under their collective belts, are so at ease with the script that it’s as if the first film had never been made…. of course it could be, given their advanced years, that the actors have forgotten that they’ve done it all before…..
The original Best Exotic film was a bit of a game changer. The film distributors, forever chasing the pocket money of a young audience, had no idea that a film featuring a whole busload of ancient actors would romp to the top of the box office charts. Of course they reacted in the way they always do - by immediately trying to repeat the trick. A whole raft of (allegedly) feel-good oldie movies was hurriedly thrust into production with varying degrees of success. Of them only the funny and touching “Quartet” really hit the money - but at least a lot more elderly thespians got some work - and were able to keep the gas meter topped up when the weather got chilly last winter.
It’s not difficult to understand why Exotic Marigold was so popular. Those of us who are the wrong side of the bus pass age are only too aware that old people are just young people trapped inside increasingly unreliable and saggy shells. We’re just as daft, playful and downright irresponsible as any teenager. It’s a well loved formula exploited by Roy Clarke’s long running “Last of the Summer Wine” on the telly. All that’s happened here is that they’ve transferred it to a colourful and interesting location and added a bit of big screen glitz - and it works! Mind you, it would have been fascinating to see how Compo and Nora Batty coped with Bangalore….
(Moved from FeckenOdeon 2 to the larger Main Cinema because of public demand).