Now for reviews of two British movies. One with a star-studded British cast (and a ridiculously over-long title). One filled with rising stars (not least, the wonderful Lenora Crichlow from "Being Human").
![]()
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
I'd heard very good things about this movie, but I must admit I had my doubts. Still when I started watching, EVERYONE in the film seemed to be a big name British actor. Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith... the list goes on. Not only that but Maggie Smith gave a refreshingly different performance as a gruff elderly racist, steering away from her more familiar posh voice.
Unfortunately there are so many characters who are all essentially doing their own thing that we don't really get enough time spent on any of them. Any of the storylines could have made up a whole film, yet instead we get a bunch of bits. That being said, there were definitely a few points where I found myself rocked with emotion. Sadly those moments represented the climax of that particular character's storyline, so the film never really gets much of an opportunity to surprise. The formulaic nature of the film makes the occasional intense emotional highs feel cheap.
![]()
Perhaps a major issue with the film is the central premise. A bunch of elderly people have been drawn by an advert for a particular hotel in India which, as it turns out, is in a state of disarray. The manager of the hotel is making a mess of setting it up, but in the meanwhile the gaggle of ageing visitors get to know India and try to deal with their own personal demons.
Cue a storyline where a version of India that is in equal parts romanticised and trivialised helps the individual characters to find out something about themselves. Meanwhile little attention is really given to the issues that Indians themselves might face. For example, we are told without any need for related Indian characters to get some screen time, that a gay Indian man stuck in an arranged marriage to a tolerant wife makes for a pretty great life. Am I being unfair in suggesting that having this issue resolved offscreen was overly trivialising the situation? Couldn't this have made for an entire film? As much as I found "A Separation" a little empty, I feel like that film deserves a lot of credit for being prepared to give that story the level of depth it needed, unlike in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" where there are a string of emotional moments which are not really accompanied by characters who have not alway been given a chance to clearly develop. The effect of their new location in India is often particularly unclear.
![]()
This film could never have gained the positive reputation it has without its fantastic cast. These are actors who can convey a great deal of depth without the need for strong dialogue or a well-crafted plot. But when Maggie Smith's racist character makes her sudden character shift it feels completely undeserved and Maggie Smith ends up looking like she's playing an entirely different person from the one she portrayed at the beginning of the film. So talented is she, that she very nearly pulls off this ridiculous stunt.
Dare say, this will probably appeal to those who loved "Love Actually". It's quite similar in some ways and certainly a lot better written and performed. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" doesn't sink to the same cheesy depths, but the central issue remains the same. It's a bunch of vaguely interlinked stories which are desperately trying to coax a tear from you. While the stories in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" might be somewhat more successful in this aim, the process still feels just as crass and shallow.
![]()
By comparison to other issues, this issue feels petty; but still I feel I must mention it all the same: Dev Patel is a London-born Brit. Having him do the ultra-polite and self-effacing Indian hotel owner feels like the final nail in the coffin for me here. Sure, he's very much ethnically Indian and yes, there's no reason why he cannot play a native Indian man. But it just feels like another case of the filmmakers avoiding touching on any genuine Indian issues. Part of me simply couldn't believe Dev Patel's performance, not least because he's portrayed as a comically incompetent hotel manager whose love life and hotel business have to be SAVED by the elderly white guests. Ugh!
![]()
Was there anything good in this film at all? Well, the performances were great and a few super-emotional moments really touched me in an expert way - and I simply have to acknowledge that. But overall, this film was kind of awful. As I said before, if you liked "Love Actually" you may well love this, but since I found "Love Actually" to be excruciating to sit through, I cannot possibly recommend this film.
D+
![]()
Fast Girls (2012)
This started off looking like an interesting drama starring Lenora Crichlow (Annie from the tv series "Being Human" about monsters trying to live like ordinary people) as a poor orphan hoping to succeed with her talents as a runner. But as it went on, I felt it came to strongly parallel the classic comedy "Bend It Like Beckham".
Now "Fast Girls" is a drama, not a comedy, but both films are about a young girl ambitious to go from local to national competitions in the sport they love, two girls on the same team fighting somewhat over the same man, and the contrast of two girls from different backgrounds. Now certainly all of these plot elements are fairly strongly mixed up, but the overall tone had something oddly similar about it.
![]()
Still, "Fast Girls" is missing a lot of the things that made "Bend It Like Beckham" distinctive without really seeming to have much of its own to make up for it. "Bend It Like Beckham" had the whole Sikhism and traditional Indian values aspect which made it really interesting, as well as the comedy which made it so endearing. However, one area "Fast Girls" definitely wins out is the acting. The performances are all-round brilliant, not least Lenora Crichlow who is playing a very different person to her well-known tv character. Noel Clarke deserves a lot of credit and I still feel he ought to be in bigger films, but another rather cool performance came from Lorraine Burroughs.
![]()
![]()
Also, I'd be remiss in trying to say that the whole film is just a rehash of "Bend It Like Beckham". I suspect this format is also found in many other films and that just stood out for me as a particularly well-known British hit. But "Fast Girls" issue is definitely that it does not have anything unique to say. All that being noted, the simple unoriginal story is played out extremely well. This film was really good fun and, asides from perhaps some exchanges with one girl's overbearing father character, there are no points where the talented cast seem to be trying to do their best with poorly written lines.
![]()
If you are interested in a sweet simple unchallenging sports film that'll put a smile on your face, perhaps after a long day at work, you might want to check this out. It's especially worth watching if you want to see what Lenora Critchlow is up to, since she is a fantastic leading lady. Unfortunately the story is a bit too cliched and doesn't really inspire as much as it hopes to.
B-
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)
I'd heard very good things about this movie, but I must admit I had my doubts. Still when I started watching, EVERYONE in the film seemed to be a big name British actor. Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith... the list goes on. Not only that but Maggie Smith gave a refreshingly different performance as a gruff elderly racist, steering away from her more familiar posh voice.
Unfortunately there are so many characters who are all essentially doing their own thing that we don't really get enough time spent on any of them. Any of the storylines could have made up a whole film, yet instead we get a bunch of bits. That being said, there were definitely a few points where I found myself rocked with emotion. Sadly those moments represented the climax of that particular character's storyline, so the film never really gets much of an opportunity to surprise. The formulaic nature of the film makes the occasional intense emotional highs feel cheap.
Perhaps a major issue with the film is the central premise. A bunch of elderly people have been drawn by an advert for a particular hotel in India which, as it turns out, is in a state of disarray. The manager of the hotel is making a mess of setting it up, but in the meanwhile the gaggle of ageing visitors get to know India and try to deal with their own personal demons.
Cue a storyline where a version of India that is in equal parts romanticised and trivialised helps the individual characters to find out something about themselves. Meanwhile little attention is really given to the issues that Indians themselves might face. For example, we are told without any need for related Indian characters to get some screen time, that a gay Indian man stuck in an arranged marriage to a tolerant wife makes for a pretty great life. Am I being unfair in suggesting that having this issue resolved offscreen was overly trivialising the situation? Couldn't this have made for an entire film? As much as I found "A Separation" a little empty, I feel like that film deserves a lot of credit for being prepared to give that story the level of depth it needed, unlike in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" where there are a string of emotional moments which are not really accompanied by characters who have not alway been given a chance to clearly develop. The effect of their new location in India is often particularly unclear.
This film could never have gained the positive reputation it has without its fantastic cast. These are actors who can convey a great deal of depth without the need for strong dialogue or a well-crafted plot. But when Maggie Smith's racist character makes her sudden character shift it feels completely undeserved and Maggie Smith ends up looking like she's playing an entirely different person from the one she portrayed at the beginning of the film. So talented is she, that she very nearly pulls off this ridiculous stunt.
Dare say, this will probably appeal to those who loved "Love Actually". It's quite similar in some ways and certainly a lot better written and performed. "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" doesn't sink to the same cheesy depths, but the central issue remains the same. It's a bunch of vaguely interlinked stories which are desperately trying to coax a tear from you. While the stories in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" might be somewhat more successful in this aim, the process still feels just as crass and shallow.
By comparison to other issues, this issue feels petty; but still I feel I must mention it all the same: Dev Patel is a London-born Brit. Having him do the ultra-polite and self-effacing Indian hotel owner feels like the final nail in the coffin for me here. Sure, he's very much ethnically Indian and yes, there's no reason why he cannot play a native Indian man. But it just feels like another case of the filmmakers avoiding touching on any genuine Indian issues. Part of me simply couldn't believe Dev Patel's performance, not least because he's portrayed as a comically incompetent hotel manager whose love life and hotel business have to be SAVED by the elderly white guests. Ugh!
Was there anything good in this film at all? Well, the performances were great and a few super-emotional moments really touched me in an expert way - and I simply have to acknowledge that. But overall, this film was kind of awful. As I said before, if you liked "Love Actually" you may well love this, but since I found "Love Actually" to be excruciating to sit through, I cannot possibly recommend this film.
D+
Fast Girls (2012)
This started off looking like an interesting drama starring Lenora Crichlow (Annie from the tv series "Being Human" about monsters trying to live like ordinary people) as a poor orphan hoping to succeed with her talents as a runner. But as it went on, I felt it came to strongly parallel the classic comedy "Bend It Like Beckham".
Now "Fast Girls" is a drama, not a comedy, but both films are about a young girl ambitious to go from local to national competitions in the sport they love, two girls on the same team fighting somewhat over the same man, and the contrast of two girls from different backgrounds. Now certainly all of these plot elements are fairly strongly mixed up, but the overall tone had something oddly similar about it.
Still, "Fast Girls" is missing a lot of the things that made "Bend It Like Beckham" distinctive without really seeming to have much of its own to make up for it. "Bend It Like Beckham" had the whole Sikhism and traditional Indian values aspect which made it really interesting, as well as the comedy which made it so endearing. However, one area "Fast Girls" definitely wins out is the acting. The performances are all-round brilliant, not least Lenora Crichlow who is playing a very different person to her well-known tv character. Noel Clarke deserves a lot of credit and I still feel he ought to be in bigger films, but another rather cool performance came from Lorraine Burroughs.
Also, I'd be remiss in trying to say that the whole film is just a rehash of "Bend It Like Beckham". I suspect this format is also found in many other films and that just stood out for me as a particularly well-known British hit. But "Fast Girls" issue is definitely that it does not have anything unique to say. All that being noted, the simple unoriginal story is played out extremely well. This film was really good fun and, asides from perhaps some exchanges with one girl's overbearing father character, there are no points where the talented cast seem to be trying to do their best with poorly written lines.
If you are interested in a sweet simple unchallenging sports film that'll put a smile on your face, perhaps after a long day at work, you might want to check this out. It's especially worth watching if you want to see what Lenora Critchlow is up to, since she is a fantastic leading lady. Unfortunately the story is a bit too cliched and doesn't really inspire as much as it hopes to.
B-