The Second-Best Exotic Margold Hotel (Dev Patel)

(Amazon UK link)

After we re-watched the excellent film ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ nearly two years ago, I was eager to see the sequel again. But it wasn’t on our shelves; eventually I recalled that it was our son’s DVD of ‘The Second-best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ that we saw back in 2015. It took me over a year to acquire the sequel for ourselves - I eventually found it at a good price on Amazon UK and it was brought out to us by relatives who visited at Easter.

It took a few more months before we sat down to watch the film, and found that we couldn’t remember the storyline at all. It opens in the United States; Muriel (Maggie Smith) and Sonny (Dev Patel) are hoping to expand the hotel, and are asking for support from an American hotel chain. People are staying long-term at the ‘Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, and there are almost no rooms available for new arrivals.

Sonny is a wonderful creation, full of enthusiasm, but not understanding how to present his case in a way that might be attractive to the American chain. The owner does agree to send an inspector, but it doesn’t look too hopeful.

Back in India, two new guests arrive, and Sonny decides that one of them, an American called Guy Chambers (Richard Gere) must be the inspector. So he goes overboard with compliments, tries to allocate him the best room, and barely acknowledges the other guest.

Meanwhile Sonny’s fiance Sunaina (Tina Desai) is learning new dance moves with her brother’s best friend. Sonny, who’s oddly insecure under his extraverted enthusiasm, is convinced he has a rival. All the more so when he learns that the hotel he hopes to acquire has been bought already. He tries to persuade his mother to go on a date with Guy Chambers, but she is reluctant.

There are several other subplots too, involving the other characters: Douglas (Bill Nighy) would love to become closer to Evelyn (Judi Dench), but she’s wary - and she’s been offered a job, too, despite being close to eighty. Muriel, meanwhile, has what is evidently unpleasant news from her doctor, although we never learn what it is; she’s a bit grouchy at the best of times. And Norman (Ronald Pickup) is a bit concerned that he’s asked his taxi driver to do something he doesn’t want at all…

It’s all quite complex, with the background of the noise and vibrancy of Indian markets as well as day-to-day life in the hotel. There are a few surprises - we had entirely forgotten what happened - and I was a bit puzzled about one or two of the storylines. But it didn’t matter. With the all-star cast, the conversations and action move ahead flawlessly, with some beautifully choreographed light humour, as well as some poignancy amidst the various stresses and misunderstandings.

We enjoyed the film very much, and afterwards watched the ‘theatrical trailer’ extras which gave short snippets from some of the cast and film crew. It was good to see how enthusiastic the cast were, and how they had all been delighted to take part in a sequel to the first film.

The rating is PG, which makes sense: there’s no violence, or anything explicit and I didn’t even notice any bad language. However there are a lot of innuendoes and implications; the storyline is unlikely to be of any interest to children anyway.

Definitely recommended, although I think it would be extremely confusing if you haven’t first seen the original ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ film. 

Review copyright 2023 Sue's DVD Reviews