Film Review: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (PG)

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(PG) Directed by John Madden

India is a Mecca for outsourcing everything from making shoes to tech support. When Sonny (Dev Patel) takes over running a dilapidated hotel in Jaipur, he decides to outsource old age and advertises it as the “Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful”. Being much cheaper than England, several Brits make the journey and Evelyn (Judy Dench) tells the hilarious and poignant story of the disparate group of elderly foreigners. Some adjust and see the beauty through the noise and dust, but others are terrified of the chaotic assault on their senses. Evelyn and Douglas (Bill Nighy) explore their new surrounds while Douglas’s wife Jean (Penelope Wilton) remains in the hotel. Madge (Celia Imrie) wants a rich husband whilst Norman (Ronald Pickup) seeks companionship of the raunchier kind. Muriel (Maggie Smith) has booked a hip replacement operation and former high court judge Graham (Tom Wilkinson) wants to find the man he first loved.

Lezly Herbert