The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 2011

Seven elderly Britons for a variety of reasons respond to an online ad and travel to Jaipur India where they find rundown hotel with a young exuberant and optimistic host. Evelyn newly widowed wants lowcost experience Graham seeks a longago love Douglas and Jean have lost their pension in a family investment Muriel needs cheap hip surgery Madge seeks a rich husband and Norman is chasing women. India affects each in different ways enchanting Douglas and Evelyn while driving Jean deeper into bitterness. Their host young Sonny has dreams but little cash or skill he also has a girlfriend whom his mother dismisses. Stories cross and discoveries await each one.

Review

If you liked ɴ Weddings and a Funeral' (and who didn't) then you will love this film. The premise is simple a collection of Brits of a certain age decide to spend their early retirement at a dubious run down hotel in Jaipur India. This decision obviously involves a physical journey but more importantly an emotion journey too. Gradually we learn the back story of these characters and these stories are very fascinating indeed.

An absolutely stellar cast are well served by an intelligent witty script with some killer oneliners which are guaranteed laugh out loud. Only occasionally does it get sentimental but somehow this doesn't matter because the seductive nature of India weaves its spell not just on the characters but also on us.

It's good to see a film that doesn't treat retirement aged people as idiots. These people are intelligent funny curious and I would willingly share a g&t with them. An absolute gem of a film.