The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel - DVD Review

Starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imrie and Ronald Pickup.
Directed by John Madden.

★★½

It's predictable as all get out, but it's also one of those movies where I cut it some slack because it's so nice to see these actors bouncing off each other.  I've gained a new love for every sentence Dame Maggie Smith speaks, and Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy tend to be terrific with how much or how little they're given.

A group of British seniors have decided to outsource their retirement and go to the cheaper "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful" in India.  When they arrive they find the brochure was misleading and it's rather a run-down place, run by a young enthusiastic man (Dev Patel) who dreams of building it up to be like his brochure.

They could have trimmed about 15 minutes without losing anything.  At two hours running time, the pacing can be slow.  But as the relationships develop and the situations unfold, I was rooting for these characters to achieve their hopes and dreams.