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.

Classic Review: Days of Heaven (1978)

Terrence Malick is considered to be one of the greatest living filmmakers, if not the greatest, which seems insane considering he has only made six films in close to forty years. But after watching his second film Days of Heaven it is hard to argue with such a claim.

Bill (Richard Gere) and Abby (Brooke Adams) are two con artists who travel the countryside trying to survive. Bill's younger sister Linda (Linda Manz) joins them in journeying to the Texas Panhandle, where the get jobs as sackers on a wheat farm. The farm is run by The Farmer (Sam Shepard), who falls in love with Abby, believing her to be Bill's sister.

Whilst that plot may sound rather straightforward, that description comes nowhere near what the film is about or how what happens in the film. Malick wrote the film but threw away the script and let the three leads of Gere, Adams and Shepard form what would happen in the movie. The result is flowing saga of a love triangle that is a surprisingly gripping story in the hands of the talented Malick. This talent comes through even more in his editing of the film, which took over two years. His decision to run with an improvised script made it difficult for him to make a cohesive story and it was only after a completely improvised narration from Manz, that he was happy with the finished product.

One thing that really makes a Malick film, however, is the stunning cinematography. Néstor Almendros made the film look insanely beautiful by shooting only during the magic hours of dusk and dawn (although this 'hour' generally lasts 20 minutes), a time where it is light but there is no sun present. This effect gives the film a softer look that suits its 1916 setting. Malick loves his animal close ups and they are a recurring element in all his films, but I really thought that he didn't need to show us what locust mandibles look like up close. Another crucial element of this film is Ennio Morricone's score, which I have to say is one of the most beautiful, and yet chilling, film scores I have ever heard.

You could also say that this movie is just about four very subtle performances, all of them amazing. Richard Gere is too charming to think of as your stereotypical conman, but you can definitely see that he has a darker side to him. All he loves in the world are Abby and Linda and will do anything to make a good life for them. You can see the other side of this love in Brooke Adams, although she gives a great performance as she begins to fall for The Farmer. Sam Shepard is absolutely fantastic as a man who wants nothing more than have someone to love, since he has nothing more that he could want. As pointed out before, Manz also narrates the film and it is this narration that provides some background to the characters. It is also funny in parts.

Verdict: Days of Heaven is a true masterpiece that I wish I had known about before watching it. What's even more amazing is that Malick took a twenty year hiatus between this and his next film, The Thin Red Line.

Movie 43

Please don't watch this movie. Don't see it at the cinema, don't buy the DVD, don't even download it, it's not worth the bandwidth. My friend who was with me at the time, walked out twenty minutes in and I would've have well if I didn't have to review it. I feel as though my IQ has halved. And I wanted to give this movie a chance.

Now I've got that out of my system, let me tell you about it. The plot begins with a filmmaker (Dennis Quaid) pitching a movie to a studio exec (Greg Kinnear). Okay, of to a good start, no problem there, that is until we get to the first short about Kate Winslet going on a blind date with Hugh Jackman. In a regular movie that would be a great set up for a romantic comedy until it all goes south when we find out that Hugh Jackman has balls hanging from his chin, fully grown male testicles. What am I ten, who would find this funny. It obviously doesn't appeal to Greg Kinnear's character either because he immediately wants to put an end to the meeting.

But still Dennis Quaid goes on with his pitch, with stories ranging from an extremely dirty mouthed Emma Stone (who is going to have to work extremely hard to regain my love) sucking on Kieran Culkin's (Macaulay's brother) finger to a sketch about a product called iBabe (a naked female that functions like an iPod) made by a company headed by Richard Gere. Other sketches include Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts telling their new neighbours about the disgusting ways that homeschool their son (some of which are borderline incestuous). I am sure their son will grow up to be a mass murderer. Another short involved young Chloe Grace-Moretz getting her first period, with all the men in the house freaking out.

One storyline I did like (I use that term insanely loosely) was called Gotham City Speed Dating. In this short, Robin (Justin Long) is at a speed dating night, only to be humiliated by Batman (Jason Sudeikis), who shows up because a bomb has been planted at the venue by the Penguin. Kristen Bell is Supergirl and Uma Thurman is Lois Lane. Superman is portrayed as some kind of perverted sex fiend. The only reason I "liked"this segment is because Jason Sudeikis played Batman similar to his character Schmitty from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and that's only because his character in that is a dick.

As the film progresses, we find out that Dennis Quaid isn't some big director, but instead some crazy guy who has wandered in of the street with the hopes of getting his film made. But then in an insane twist, at the end we find out that the camera that was filming this was just a behind the scenes camera all along.

I don't know what the makers of this film were thinking, the same thing with the actors. Was Peter Farrelly trying to make some bold statement about the future of film? I don't think so. Were the actors, keep in mind that these are Oscar and Golden Globe worthy actors, just doing this movie as a bit of fun? Maybe, we'll never know. Two particularly offensive performances come from Stephen Merchant (Ricky Gervais best mate) who ends up with plastic surgery that has turned him Asian a la Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's and Terrance Howard (as in Terrance Howard from Crash, a Best Picture winner) plays a coach of an all black basketball team in 1959, who convinces his team that they can win purely because they are black. Come on, that's more racist than the whole of Django Unchained.

Verdict: It's unfunny, racist, disgusting and just plain horrible. Avoid at all costs. Go see any other movie.