The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

"Why die here, when you could die there!"

John Madden's 2012 film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel proved to be a funny, surprisingly honest look at the foils of old age, with a strong cast of veteran British actors, and now the sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has come along with a continuation of the story.

After the success of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Sonny (Dev Patel) looks to expand with a second. Muriel (Maggie Smith) accompanies him to a meeting that could help him secure funding for the new premises, and they agree that she'll do the talking. Back at the hotel, Evelyn (Judi Dench) is considering a career opportunity, whilst Douglas (Bill Nighy) continues his attempts to woo her. After a late night out, Norman (Ronald Pickup) runs into some trouble when he thinks that he's accidentally put a hit out on his girlfriend Carol (Diana Hardcastle), and the hotel welcomes two new guests, Lavinia (Tamsin Grieg) and the mysterious Guy Chambers (Richard Gere).

Though not all goes to plan. Whilst Sonny is juggling the potential new deal, his upcoming wedding and the possibility that Guy is an inspector, an old acquaintance Kushal (Shazard Latif) purchases the new hotel. Then Douglas' ex, the insufferable Jean (Penelope Wilton) arrives.

The writing in the first film was better than this second outing, and whilst its numerous twisting narratives, love-triangles and vast array of Marigold residents are all entertaining, it's missing the volume of humour that was so delightful in the first. The additional characters are well-rounded, and I'm sure that those who find Richard Gere charming will enjoy him here, but they don't really bring anything new to the plot that wasn't already there, grappling with old age, the apparently relaxing, party nature of the Indian lifestyle, etc. What's entertaining with Second Best is seeing the original residents continue on their paths. It's a shame that Tom Wilkinson's character, Graham Dashwood was written out at the end of the first, as he was one of the more interesting members of the ensemble, but there's still plenty of talent, with legends Judi Dench and Maggie Smith the clear favourites, especially when they're squabbling at each other on-screen.

Much like the original, and another recent ensemble piece, Pride, also starring Bill Nighy, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel finds its bearings with an incredibly strong cast and believable characters. Smith continues her role as the straight-to-the-point Muriel, whose dry sense of wit is the source of most of the jokes, with Patel's ambitious, yet pig-headed Sonny a close second. The relationship between Dench and Nighy's shy characters is, although clichéd, the most compelling part of the script, with Madge's love-triangle surprisingly dull. Penelope Wilton succeeds admirably at bringing back the unbelievably annoying Madge, and it was also nice to see Tamsin Greig (Fran from Black Books) in a more substantial film role. 

There's definitely a cinematic advantage to setting a film in India. With some astounding architecture, scenic views and a multitude of vast colours, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is just as vivid as the first, if not more. The cinematography is complimented by the colourful set design, culminating is an extravagant, if not totally over the top final act. Even if you were somehow bored with the characters, the visuals would get you through to the end.

The original film was a light-hearted but charming comedy that, whilst focused on an older audience, was broad enough in subject matter to be enjoyable for most ages. For the most-part, the same can be said for The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It doesn't trump the first film, but with such a strong cast, it's still good fun.

Pride

It's been a long time since I've seen an ensemble piece with a perfect cast, but that's exactly what I found in Matthew Warchus's fantastically enjoyable LGBT feature Pride.

During the height of Margaret Thatcher's term and the 1984 Miner's strike, Mark (Ben Schnetzer) and his friends at the 'Gay's the Word' bookshop recognise similarities in their struggle for LGBT rights and the struggle of the Miners, so they decide to form a fund-raising group, Lesbians & Gays Support Miners (LGSM). After contacting various Miner's groups with little success, LGSM decides to work directly with a Welsh mining town, with a council representative, Dai (Paddy Considine) coming up to meet them in London with plenty of enthusiasm.

When the group drive down to the town in South Wales, they are met by sceptical residents that are driven by homophobic preconceptions. Though soon enough - with the support of local mother Sian (Jessica Gunning), and council members Hefina (Imelda Staunton) & Cliff (Bill Nighy) - the majority of the town show their support. It's really quite a wonderful story.

Based on true events, Pride manages to be both wonderfully amusing and sincerely real at the same time, but not in a particularly confronting manner. It's the British equivalent of Priscilla, just not quite as flamboyant. At times it does become overly-sentimental, but these moments are few and far between, and are outnumbered by the many great scenes that tell this enthralling story. Though the true reason that it manages to come to fruition so effortlessly on screen, lies in the superb performances from, not just a few, but all the cast.

Pride has at least twelve leading roles, as well as numerous supporting characters, and it's difficult to find a fault in any of them. There are definitely some standouts, namely the hilarious Imelda Staunton (she is one of my favourite, and yet quite underrated British actors), the young George MacKay as Joe, Bill Nighy (because he's Bill Nighy), and Dominic West as Jonathan, in possibly his best role since The Wire. But overall, this is a real team effort and a fantastic job by casting. It's great to see a good ensemble piece and the story of LGSM just screams for a united cast with plenty of shared screen time. 

 

Pride is not only heartwarming, but it's enourmously funny, and manages to be so without being condescending or degrading...apart from perhaps to homophobes. It's an absolute joy to behold.