The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Maggie Smith is all wrinkled up and she represents a light ending in India as a co-manager of a rather successful hotel whose proprietor, Dev Patel, really laying on his thick Indian accent, attempts to expand but apparently to no avail.Richard Gere is the supposed writer who visits and is writing a book on getting older. Of course, Gere isn't what he is supposed to be and is soon found to be a hotel evaluator as is the case with another guest. At the same time, he woos Patel's mother and finally recuse himself from evaluation for obvious reasons.Both the Smith and Dench characters are commonly giving advice. While Smith represents life ending, Dench is still going strong working now for a company buying up all sorts of fabrics.In the end at his marriage ceremony, Patel dances away as he did in the final scene of his hit the Oscar winning "Slumdog Millionaire."

After having seen the first installment, "The best exotic marigold hotel", I had to see this one! Both films are very masterfully written, acted, directed, and produced! I'm not generally a fan of films that take place in foreign countries like India, although I like to keep an open mind. But the first film was so well done, especially the acting and writing, that I was hooked early on. There are many profound and deep subjects addressed and it inspires thought long after the film ends. This second film was every bit as good, if not better. I must applaud and thank everyone involved in the making of both films! I am definitely adding these to my collection and will recommend them highly! Every time I watch these movies I learn something new and appreciate them even more.

The first offering was such a wonderful film, it was funny, moving, warm, the kind of film you'd want to watch again. They tried desperately hard to recapture that magical spirit in the second offering. In some ways they did, but in others it fell a wee bit short. The acting masterclass from both Maggie Smith and Judi Dench continues, both display their true caliber. Richard Gere was rather wasted in this film, I didn't think he was given enough to do, he didn't add a great deal. I loved parts of it, Judi Dench sealing the fabric deal was brilliant, I liked that. I didn't warm to Penelope Wilton in the first film, I really enjoyed her part in this one, even though she wasn't given the best send off. The bit I didn't really rate was the lack of conclusion for Maggie Smith's character Muriel, it felt like it was building up towards something big, and absolutely nothing happened, what was that all about. Some great one liners, moving, just a big of sparkle missing.

It's especially sad when such an incredibly talented group of actors are stuck in a movie with a terrible script and stereotypes that evoke an eye-roll at least every three minutes. For starters, the story line would have been greatly improved if the opening scene had been focused on the blazing funeral pyre of the Sonny Kapoor character. If he was irritating in the original, he has crossed into the realm of unbearable in this sequel. With a script that seems to be a direct lift from the Golden Girls, Jungle Fever and a bad country music video, this unnecessary sequel had nowhere to go but down and it did. Terribly written, clumsily directed and with subplots that are awkwardly interjected and fragmented, this was totally unnecessary. It speaks volumes when Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Judy Dench cannot rescue a film from itself. On the other hand, it was a cure for my chronic insomnia.