Dame Judi Dench is at her magisterial best? in this madcap 退職 romp

By Chris Tookey for MailOnline
Updated: 09:39 BST, 24 February 2012

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (12A)

率ing: 判決: Feelgood fun for the over 50s

We're used to depressing news stories about old people 存在 扱う／治療するd with disrespect, so it’s a 扱う／治療する to see a feelgood movie in which 年輩の heroes 勝利 over adversity - and their own 悲観的な 期待s.

It has the 追加するd attraction of a superb British cast, 長，率いるd by the incomparable Judi Dench.

She plays the recently （死が）奪い去るd Evelyn, who discovers the husband she depended on has left her only 負債s. If she is not to become a 重荷（を負わせる） to her grown-up children, she must find somewhere cheap to live and - if possible - a 職業.

Passage to India: Judie Dench, left, and Celia Imrie 勝利 over adversity in this feelgood flick

Then there’s a High 法廷，裁判所 裁判官, Graham (Tom Wilkinson), brought up in India and 所有するd by an 圧倒的な need to return.

Maggie Smith takes a 残り／休憩（する） from playing posh to become Muriel, a former housekeeper with 人種差別主義者 態度s who wants a hip 取って代わるd as quickly and cheaply as possible.

法案 Nighy and Penelope Wilton play a discontented couple of 40 years who have lent their life-貯金 to a daughter and watched them evaporate.

Finally, there are （テニスなどの）シングルス on the prowl Norman (Ronald 好転) and Madge (Celia Imrie), uneasily aware time is catching up on their much-減らすd romantic prospects.

All seven find themselves at a Jaipur 退職 home 提起する／ポーズをとるing as a 高級な hotel.

The shambolic pile is maladministered by an enthusiastic young Indian entrepreneur called Sonny (Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire).

やめる apart from his 無（不）能 to make money or run a hotel with anything 似ているing competence, Sonny is を受けるing a personal 危機. He wants to marry a beauty from a call centre (Tena Desae), not follow the 需要・要求するs of his mother (Lillete Dubey) to sell the hotel and 服従させる／提出する to the marriage she’s arranged for him.

If this sounds familiar, perhaps you have read the novel on which it is based, These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach. Writer Ol Parker 削減するs and 簡単にするs the 調書をとる／予約する 効果的に, while director John Madden (Mrs Brown, Shakespeare In Love) makes it all look attractively exotic.

Stellar cast: The film is entertaining, but it?s いつかs too 平易な to catch a glimpse of authorial strings

The noise and squalor of India, however, are downplayed, and 非，不，無 of the characters’ implicit sense of 優越 over the 地元のs is 本気で challenged.

There’s no 試みる／企てる to 取り組む the ぎこちない question of? how the characters are going to 対処する without the support of the NHS, either.

The 令状ing is clunky at times. When characters を受ける abrupt personality changes, it’s too 平易な to catch a glimpse of authorial strings of the puppets.

There are also too many ‘on the nose’ lines, such as when Sonny tells his girlfriend: ‘You’re part of a modern India my mother cannot welcome!’ A better movie would have shown, not told.

So don’t 推定する／予想する cutting-辛勝する／優位 cinema. There’s a strong whiff of cosy, Sunday night TV. And Dev Patel over-補償するs for the stately pace of the older characters with over-事実上の／代理 that occasionally grates.

Yet in a いっそう少なく than vintage week, the movie stands out - for its 一般に 罰金 業績／成果s, goodness of heart and solid craftsmanship.

Judi Dench is touching and inspirational as an 明らかに helpless woman turning her life around.

法案 Nighy 申し込む／申し出s a 味方する of his talent not usually seen o n the big 審査する: a 激怒（する） and 力／強力にする to go with his flair for diffident, ironic comedy.

I also admired the depth Penelope Wilton brings to a woman with few redeeming 特徴; it’s refreshing to see a film that 扱う／治療するs its ‘baddies’ with generosity of spirit.

The whole thing is poignant, watchable and gently amusing. I can’t think of many people over 50 who would not enjoy it.

And it 申し込む／申し出s a welcome glow of Indian warmth in a 冷淡な winter. If you can’t afford a holiday 権利 now, see this movie - it’s an entertaining 代案／選択肢.