After the success of John Madden’s “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” four years ago, any studio naturally would want another hit out of a sequel. Take three young Indian actors, six veteran British movie stars and an American A-lister, and you’ve got the cast of “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
Originally based on Deborah Moggach’s novel These Foolish Things, the film adaptation has grown a life of its own. But while the first film was saccharine yet charming, the new one is cheesier and more cliché.
After the success of his small, retirement resort, the Exotic Marigold Hotel in Jaipur, India, Sonny Kapur (Dev Patel) and Mureil Donnelly (Maggie Smith) reach out to San Diego associates to expand the resort into a chain. At the same time, he worries that his fiancée, hotel hostess Sunaina (Tina Desai), is being wooed by her brother’s friend Kushal (Shazad Latif), who appears effortlessly perfect.
Back at the hotel, Evelyn (Judi Dench) and Douglas (Bill Nighy) are tip-toeing around the fact that they’re attracted to each other, and a new arrival, Guy Chambers (Richard Gere), claims to be a novelist, but Sonny is certain he’s actually a hospitality reviewer who is there to critique their performance.
The first movie, and others before it such as “Cocoon” (1985) and “Something’s Gotta Give” (2003), established that movies with senior characters can be just as popular as movies centered on young people.
What’s interesting about the new “Marigold Hotel” is that, even with all the trailers and posters focusing on the older members of the cast, the biggest and most intriguing storylines in the film are centered on 20-somethings Sonny and Sunaina. Patel, as the goofy and hyper hotel owner, does the best he can as the lead of this ensemble, and the Indian engagement sequences are aesthetically beautiful.
Unfortunately, the execution of the plot line in which Sonny is jealous of Kush and suspicious of Guy comes off as completely unoriginal. Madden’s sequel could have been another cute, fun comedy, but it relies too much on predictable tropes and corny dialogue. There also are a couple of subplots with two of the older female characters that aren’t expanded on and instead are left as forgettable afterthoughts. This time around, even Smith’s own sardonic, yet wise role is more of a nuisance than amusing.
Some movie viewers don’t mind clichés and cheesiness in light comedies, for the sake of ‘mindless entertainment’ during two hours away from work. But in that case, the first “Exotic Marigold Hotel” is a better choice, if you haven’t already seen it.
mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and also contributes other entertainment-related features and articles.
