There are oh so many things to love about this film: the delightful cast, which includes just a few of my favorites from Downton Abbey (Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton); the setting of the Pink City (Jaipur, India); and last but not least the beautiful story of starting over in a foreign and exotic land.
One of my favorite scenes is when Judi Dench’s character Evelyn is consoling Sonny (Deb Patel from Slumdog Millionaire), who is beside himself for having to walk away from his true love because of his mother’s wishes. Evelyn makes it quite simple and reminds him “you can have anything you want… you just need to stop waiting on someone to tell you that you deserve it.” So very true indeed!
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has one of the most touching endings ever. The characters all come to terms with their own shortcomings and set out to begin anew… the very reason they left Britain in the beginning. “The only real failure is the failure to try. And the measure of success is how we cope with disappointment, as we always must. We came here and we tried. All of us in our different ways. We get up in the morning, we do our best, nothing else matters. But it’s also true that the person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing. All we know about the future is that it will be different. But perhaps what we fear is that it will be the same. So we must celebrate the changes. Because as someone once said everything will be alright in the end and if it’s not alright, then trust me, it’s not yet the end.”
A Day with May 