The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

One good movie I recently watched was The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - a comedy drama based on the book These Foolish Things by by Deborah Moggach.

The story revolves around seven British retirees, who are brought together by a trip to Jaipur after having stumbled upon inviting photos to the Best  Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Upon reaching the hotel, the travelers discover that it was quite different from what the websites and the flyers presented.

Surprisingly, they all choose to stay and see what sort of adventure would unfold during their stay in the hotel.

The characters in the story each have their own interesting stories to tell. A recent widow, a quarrelsome couple, two adventurous singles, a retired High Court judge, and a retired housekeeper.

In some films with several characters, my usual observation is that it becomes difficult to develop the story of each person precisely because of the number of lives involved.

Not with this film.

The story of each character was played out well and the way that each story was interweaved with one another was neither forced nor hard to believe.

I guess my favorite story would be that of the retired High Court judge played by Tom Wilkinson. He is the only one among the group who has a real connection with India, having grown up in Jaipur and falling in love with a local. He returns to India since his youth in search of the person he has loved to see what has become of that person, if the person has survived the disgrace following the discovery of their forbidden romance.

If I were to be asked what it is about this movie that I liked, I would have to say three things. First is the location. The fact that it was shot outside of the familiar urban landscape made it much more visually interesting. Second, the screenplay was fantastic, at least that's what I thought. Several laugh out loud moments, and several nuggets of wisdom to be picked up during the run of the film. Thirdly, I love that it was very much close to real life. The highs, the lows, the issues each individual experiences was something the audience could (or eventually could) relate to.

I now know what book to read next. I hope I can get a copy here.