The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

It would be difficult for a movie with the cast of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to suck, and while it’s a good film, director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) doesn’t lead his renowned ensemble to the heights they’re capable of reaching. Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Bill Nighy are the principal players, a group of disparate retirees recharging their lives at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is run by Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel. (He has, um, oversold the charm of his hotel.) It’s a dramedy that never really goes anywhere unexpected. That isn’t to say there aren’t some nice things about it; obviously, you’re going to get good performances, but it’s one of those Brit slice-of-lifers they should have hired Richard Curtis (Love, Actually; Four Weddings and a Funeral) to write. This is a movie about finding life that could use a little more life itself.