I cannot say that The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is an excellent movie. But I can say that it was a wonderful pleasure to watch. Sure, it’s contrived and predictable and not deep enough. But it’s also gentle and sweet and full of love and life. It’s not as fresh as the first, as here, we revisit those we’ve already met. But it’s a nice visit. It’s a comfortable visit. It’s good.
The love stories weave their way through the script, not surprisingly, and not in any particularly new way. But sometimes that’s perfectly fine. Sometimes you want to sit back and watch love unfold and develop and come together across multiple stories and over multiple, albeit not-terribly-challenging, obstacles. Sometimes you just want to sit back and be able to smile.
As the first movie did, this second movie also paints India in a beautiful light—figuratively and literally. Poverty is almost hidden; the flowers fool one into believing that the only scent might be a glorious floral perfume; and everything is brilliant and colorful and clean. Although I’ve not yet made it there, India does hold a special place in my heart as a travel destination, and the many people I’ve talked to who have been there are quick to point out this as a flawed perception. Okay, so maybe India has some rougher edges (and odors), but sometimes how you see a place is more about the joy you approach life with than the mere view at first glance. Sometimes the beauty we can see in a place and a people is more about the reflection of our own appreciation of what lies under anything at first glance. Sometimes, you just have to open your eyes more, tilt your head just right, look a little deeper. And the beauty is there.
As for the literal lighting, indeed, it was gorgeous. Of course, if one thought too much about it, one had to wonder why the movie’s events seem to take place almost exclusively in the late afternoon and early evening, as the sun’s rays stretch long and golden and warm across each scene, bringing an amazing hue to all on the screen. Or maybe this is perfect metaphorical lighting: it might be the end of the day or the end of one’s life, but in that end, as the light is about to fade, sometimes that’s when we can see things most beautifully, soft and glowing in the golden light, in the golden years.
It may not be a must-see movie for a lot of people. But if you, like me, delighted in the first film, then so long as you remember that this isn’t terribly new and this isn’t something different, you wont’ be disappointed in this second film. It picks up where the other left off, dropping in on these lives, living and loving beautifully in the golden light and golden years. Maybe it’s not as good, but it really is good enough.