Director John Madden had the wonderful
characters from the initial The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel played
by the same world-class cast with the delicious additions of Richard Gere and
David Strathairn…even one of the same writers, Ol Parker.
So, what was the problem with The Second
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel?
I can only surmise it was the exclusion of
the other writer from the first film, Deborah Moggach, who, probably, added the
uplifting spirit of the first film.
This effort is a downer with the focus on the
young hotelier played, erratically, by Dev Patel. Instead of endearing, as he had been, the
character is annoying and, despite the Bollywood ending, leaves one feeling he
will, eventually, divorce and become a Hindi Donald Trump.
The saving grace is that this is a
multi-character film and the other stories are played against the negative
spirit inflicted by the writer. That’s
what real talent can do.
I give The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
a 3 out of 5, but feel cheated out of what it should have been.
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