‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ gets old quickly
The greatest thing that can be said about “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is that it’s once again cause for a long underserved segment of the moviegoing audience to enjoy a night — or, more likely, an afternoon — out.
The downside of appealing to that older demographic, though, is that every time the head of the woman sitting next to me flopped limply down, chin to her chest — and there were many, many times — I wanted to call 911.
Thankfully, she always started snoring before I could get to my phone.
Although I wouldn’t call it snooze-worthy, “Second Best” is devoid of pretty much everything that made the original feel so, well, original.
“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” found its many characters at a crossroads. Evelyn (Judi Dench) was recently widowed and alone for the first time. Long-married couple Douglas (Bill Nighy) and Jean (Penelope Wilton) were on the path to splitting up. Norman (Ronald Pickup) and Madge (Celia Imrie) were on the prowl. And Mrs. Donnelly (Maggie Smith) was a horrible xenophobe waiting for a hip replacement.
Everyone came to India — lured by Sonny (Dev Patel), an earnest hotelier who dreamed of “outsourcing old age” — because they could no longer afford the retired life in England.
It was a charming tale of discovery, personal growth, culture clashes and seniors finding their independence, and, in a few cases, late-in-life love.
All “Second Best” can offer is an extended look at these new lives, after all their transformations — i.e., the most interesting journeys — are over.
The sequel begins, promisingly enough, with Sonny and Mrs. Donnelly cruising along Route 66 in a convertible and listening to George Thorogood &The Destroyers. They’re on their way to a meeting with a potential investor (David Strathairn) who could help Sonny realize his new dream of expansion.
It’s been about eight months since the end of the first movie, the hotel is running more smoothly, and no one is checking out — at least, Sonny notes, “until the ultimate checkout.”
But once the unlikely duo return to Jaipur, “Second Best” plays out like a CBS sitcom version of the original, complete with all the expected tropes.
Identities are mistaken. Characters look for each other only to show up where the other just left. Douglas has taken a job as a tour guide, but he can’t remember any of the details of the sites he visits, so he hires a local boy to read the script into his earpiece. And by complaining about monogamy and overtipping his tuk-tuk driver, Norman fears he may have accidentally ordered a hit on his girlfriend (Diana Hardcastle).
Every storyline is more predictable than the first time out.
Richard Gere injects some youth into the cast as Guy Chambers, who says he’s come to India to work on his first novel and, out of nowhere, ends up falling for Sonny’s mother (Lillete Dubey). He’s mostly just there, though, to smile awkwardly and be ogled.
Much of the action centers around the wedding of Sonny and Sunaina (Tina Desai), but even that has its own contrived complications as Sonny is jealous of her brother’s wealthy friend (Shazad Latif), who’s choreographing their big wedding dance.
“Second Best” is once again directed by John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love”) and written by Ol Parker, but this time they aren’t working from Deborah Moggach’s novel, and it shows.
The cast is as impressive a collection of British thespians as you could assemble, and its members never disappoint. Spending time with them is a pleasure as they pull you in even when the material they’re delivering is lacking.
And its hard to go wrong whenever Smith is being irascible. “How was America?” she’s asked. “It made death more tempting.”
Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” lives up (or down) to its title. It is the second best in the series. And it feels every bit as rambling and disorganized as the hotel itself.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567.
Review
“The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”
122 minutes
PG; some language and suggestive comments
Grade: C+
At multiple locations
