The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

First Hit:  This was a lovely film with fine acting based in a wonderful story.

When it comes to retiring and what to do next, the options can be very limited based on finances.

Here we have a group of British elderly people who, for mostly financial reasons, find this ad for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” in Jaipur, India. A recently widowed Evelyn (played by Judi Dench) had always left everything thing up to her husband and when she finds out that selling the flat they live in will only pay off the bills he accumulated, she sees this as a way to do something on her own and to not be controlled any longer.

Graham (played by Tom Wilkinson) is a judge who decides he has to make something right that has been bothering him since his young days in India. Douglas and Jean (played by Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton respectively) are married and with their meager savings given to their daughter who is involved in a internet startup, they have little or nothing to live on. She is perpetually angry and judgmental of everyone, while Douglas is loyal, inquisitive, interested in life and wants to make the best of everything.

Muriel (played by Maggie Smith) is a physically rundown house manager, who has nothing to do, is bitter, racist, and needs a hip operation. Norman (played by Ronald Pickup), who is a very aged "player" looking for the next woman he can score on.

And lastly Madge (played by Celia Imrie) who can’t stand watching her grandkids as her life’s work, wants passion of the heart and loves men. They make the arduous trip to Jaipur together slowly becoming traveling companions along the way. When they arrive, the Hotel (for the “elderly and beautiful”) is run down and looks nothing like it does in the brochures.

Most want to go home but as they begin to settle in, most find things of interest to explore:  Graham, a past relationship; Douglas, exploring the many sights of India; and Evelyn, a job as a coach for a telemarketing firm. Meanwhile Muriel, is bitter about how she ended up here but slowly discovers she has something to offer. Jean holds on to what isn’t (that she has money, is in England, and is happy) and makes appears to make Douglas’ life difficult. Norman tries to hit on Madge but is rebuffed as being not enough, but actually finds the "top of the mountain." 

Madge, tries to hit on men and but is slowly understanding that time may have passed her by. The Hotel is run by Sonny (played by Dev Patel) who has high hopes. But as a dreamer he’s great and as a businessman he is not very adept. His controlling mother wants the building sold and Sonny to come live with her in Delhi.

However, Sonny has a gorgeous girlfriend named Sunaina (played by Tena Desae) who is disliked (although unmet) by Sonny’s mother and Sunaina believes in Sonny.

As Sonny says’ throughout the film: Everything will be perfect in the end, if it is not yet perfect, it is not yet the end. And as you will guess by now, at the end of the film, it is all perfect.

Dench is wonderful as a woman believing that she can and will take charge of her life, her scenes with the telemarketers were beautifully spot on. Wilkinson was sublime as the judge who wanted to right a long past wrong. Nighy steals every scene he is in. He is a joy to watch. Wilton was downright perfect as a woman who is bitter for all that isn’t in her life. Smith was transformative in this role as she slowly learns her next step. Pickup is gangly charming but actually gets real and finds love. Imrie is fun and interesting to watch as she works herself up to be a woman wanted by men. Patel exudes Indian charm and optimism and brings a smile each time he’s on screen. Desae is beautiful and in her beauty demands you watch her in the scenes she is in. Ol Parker wrote a charming script with strong characters for each. John Madden put this great ensemble together and orchestrated them to make a very fun, poignant (for older people) watchable film.

Overall:  Although many can enjoy this film, the older audience will get far more out of it – it helps to have experience with the challenges of age.

Dark Shadows

First Hit:  This film was a study in what Tim Burton likes to create, however it wasn’t very entertaining to the audience.

When there are very few laughs in a film that is labeled a comedy there is a problem.

This was a somewhat convoluted story where a witch (how did she become one?) is more powerful than a vampire but not more powerful than a ghost. What was this film about?

Was it a film about long lost love, trying to tie together across 200 years? Or was it was about fishing, fish canning and how one family wanted to control it in a small town in Maine? Or was it was about great sex between a witch and a mortal but it wasn't enough to create a lasting relationship?

Heck, I really don't know but it might have been about Tim Burton plying his trade of creating fun off kilter spooky characters which have little basis in reality with no plot. Barnabas Collins (played by Johnny Depp) is the soul who doesn’t want to love a witch so he is turned into a vampire and is dug up from his grave 200 years later. He returns to his family home now run by Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (played by Michelle Pfeiffer).

She is the matriarch of the now crumbling fishing and canning Collins Empire. Dr. Julia Hoffman (played by Helena Bonham Carter) comes to try and heal the vampire Barnabas. But how and why they found this person is completely left off the script. Which indicated that this was a totally unneeded and unwarranted part, but a way to get Carter, Burton’s wife, some work.

Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller) was another useless part as Elizabeth’s son. Eva Green played the witch Angelique Bouchard, who was one of two major protagonists in this story.

The third wheel was Victoria Winters/Josette DePres (played by Bella Heathcote) who was loved by and was in love with Barnabas but was killed centuries ago by Witch Angelique. Again, like Barnabas, she comes back to fulfill her love/dream.

This whole film is convoluted and didn’t make a good story worth telling. There was little intrigue but it did have Burton’s trademark ghoulishness.

Depp was OK as his character but the film was so poor it felt like he was re-treading past Burton work. Pfeiffer was lost and very miscast in this film and she simply doesn’t do ghoul well. She’s better off in a dynamic part. Bonham Carter as she has done lately, try to be over the top (see her stuff in Harry Potter films) as oppose to acting. The part was unneeded for this story and therefore her value was minimal. Miller was a wasted character and I had no idea why it was part of the film. Green was the most interesting of characters in the film. Her gazes and temperament were excellent for this part. Heathcote, was beautiful but in a role which was not fully utilized. There could have been more depth to this part. Jackie Earle Haley has a small part in this film as the Collins mansion handy man and unfortunately there was little Haley could do with this part. Seth Grahame-Smith and John August wrote a wasteful script which had a very flimsy storyline and dialogue was of little use. Burton does great visuals (bright red car, lipstick and dress for Angelique), but overall this story lacked something worth watching. It is a far cry from Edward Scissorhands and, my favorite, Beetlejuice.

Overall:  Don’t waste your time. This film isn’t funny nor is it an interesting story.

Think Like a Man

First Hit:  This film served up both truth and laughs.

Film follows 7 men who are close friends and hang out together often.

The film also follows the women whom they meet. So what is thinking like a man entail? It entails reading Steve Harvey’s book “Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man”.

In this book he gives women advice of how to land men; who are mama’s boys, or can’t commit, or are players, and other behaviors. What happens is that we follow men who are being lured into relationships they actually want by women who are using the techniques written in the book to make the man do what they want.

At one point the men get copies of the book and try to blunt the girl’s attempts but in the end the men want these girls. Through all this is humor, some of it smart, some slapstick, some racial, but mostly it is the kind of humor one expects in the truth.

The bits with the professional basketball players is really funny and I would have liked even more of those scenes.

This film is smart in the way it handles the male and female parts.

This is a very good ensemble piece and although the actors are not largely known (A-list) the acting was strong: Michael Ealy, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Hart, Terrence Jenkins, Romany Malco, Gary Owen, Chris Brown, Meagan Good, Regina Hall, Taraji P. Henson, Jennifer Lewis, Gabrielle Union, La La Anthony, Wendy Williams and Sherri Shepherd were all funny and good in their roles. Keith Merryman wrote the smart screenplay from Steve Harvey’s book. Tim Story directed this smartly with great movements between couples and scenes.

Overall: I really enjoyed this film because it rang of truth, was smartly written and well directed.

Damsels in Distress

First Hit:  A lack of focus, comedic moments, and insightfulness make this film more in distress than the damsels.

God where do I start? OK, the good stuff: There are cinema-graphic moments where the lighting, background, and staging, are some of the best I’ve seen on film in a long time.

However, those moments can be best viewed with ear plugs because of the incessant crappy dialogue immediately take one away from the absolutely stunning pictures that are on the screen. I’d almost like to see some still photos of those scenes again but I could never sit through this film again to see the beautiful moments and great sets.

Even some of the room shots, the lighting, the camera’s framing of the subject are, at times, exquisite. Nonetheless, nothing can ruin a film more than ceaseless stupid dialogue and this film has it in spades.

Are there funny moments? Yes there are a couple of good laugh-out-loud moments, but very few people in the theater audience felt the same way. Most of the time the audience was dead silent – this isn’t the objective of a comedy film.

Quickly, three friends Violet (Greta Gerwig), Heather (Carrie MacLemore), and Rose (Megalyn Echikunwoke) are on campus of a private school and decide to add Lily (Analeigh Tipton) to their group.

Lily is smart, challenges many of Violet’s reasoning and explanations of the way things are on campus and in life. Not sure where the humor in all this was. Oh was it supposed to be about the Roman named Houses (versus Greek house names)? Was it that the girls run a suicide prevention center (where the word "prevention" falls down and is missing on the sign – that’s supposed to be funny too).

Or maybe the funny part is that Greta wants to start a dance craze because it will make the world better (like the Waltz, Charleston, and Twist). The worst thing about this film in the never-ending dialogue of Greta because it is mostly mindless lacking any depth nor is there any modicum of sincerity.

Anyway, there are a couple of things that were amusing – Greta’s dumb boyfriend Frank (played by Ryan Metcalf) wanting his bean ball back because it gives him great solace. Then there is Rick (played by Zach Woods) who belongs to a religious organization that only has sex through the back-end because they don’t want to procreate.

Lastly there are some reasonably good scenes with Fred/Charlie (played by Adam Brody) who is attempting to be two different people, a businessman and a student.

Gerwig is horrible in this role and I inwardly cringed whenever she was front and center in the lens, which was way too much. MacLemore was OK as a follower and none too bright. Echikunwoke, would have been better if given a larger role. Tipton was the best thing in the whole film despite a very small film resume. She may have a career in film if she works at it. Metcalf was clearly fully into his character and made his scenes worth viewing. Woods was articulate enough but thought he was constrained by his script. The character could have been more. Brody was good enough but again the script focused on Gerwig when it could have made a much better film if the talent could have been used more evenly. Whit Stillman needed more wit in this script and certainly less dialogue for Gerwig. The meandering ways, lack of focus, lack of comedic value was ever present in the dialogue. Stillman directed this film as well and besides having some extraordinarily beautiful shots, this was a weakly directed and a completely mismanaged film.

Overall: This movie was not worth the money spent to make it nor any of anyone's time to watch it.

Friends with Kids

First Hit:  At times meaningful and insightful while at other times, crass, long, and uninteresting.

There are moments in the film where tears flowed, other times where I cringed with disgust, and other times I was waiting for the next scene.

Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) is best friends with Jason (Adam Scott). They live in the same building and have known each other since college when they dated briefly. Both in their late 20’s they have relied on each other for everything but mostly for their deep friendship and funny interesting conversations.

They have other college friends (couples) who have married and have children. When they see their friend’s lives, they cringe with sadness. Ben and Missy (played by Jon Hamm and Kristen Wiig respectively), are filled with desire for wild sex with each other and they do so in anyplace they can find. But when a baby comes it all changes.

Scenes with them as they begin to ignore and ridicule each other are very sad and directly reflective of what happens to a couple when they substitute living with alcohol. The other couple Leslie and Alex (Maya Rudolph and Chris O’Dowd respectively) have a child, have gotten out of shape, and their house is a chaotic mess.

There forms of communication are yelling, ignoring, and nagging at each other but you have a sense there is something there, a staying power in their relationship. Julie and Jason want to have a child and decide that they will have a child together, not be married and have their vaunted sex and social life outside of their equally split job of raising their child.

At first it is very idyllic and it works. After they get a great start in raising their baby, they each find other romantic partners. The film then becomes less of a comedy and more about digging deeper into what love really is. This movie has great lines and overly crass lines.

A point of context is; at the defining moment of Jason and Julie’s relationship (at the very end of the movie) he wants to prove something and the way the script is written it felt crass and not about love.

Westfeldt, didn’t do it for me as the female character. There seemed to be something missing from her being fully the character and maybe it was because she wrote the script and also attempted to direct herself. As script writer I thought much of the swearing was more than needed - it didn’t make the movie more hip. However, some of the dinner scenes had great dialogue. As a director, there were times the film was very lost - looking for a path and other times it was on target. Again, the dinner scenes with all the couples in attendance were the best things she shot. Scott was much better in his role and seemed fully engaged in his part. His shallowness was perfect as well as the depth-ness he expressed as he realized what was important to him. He carried these feelings with equal clarity. Hamm was best as the sarcastic drunk while Wiig was very good as the woman who found herself in a hopeless relationship and was deciding to drown herself in wine. Rudolph was intense and occasionally wise and really displayed the kind of irritation one can get when their overwhelmed with parenthood. O’Dowd was good as the husband who was taking things in stride and also giving up on having a life he once knew.

Overall: An OK film, something to watch on video when you want some entertainment.