Greg, you and I never settle for second best. But in this case, we have no choice.

The movie opens with Sonny Kapoor (Dev Patel) and Muriel Donnelly (Maggie Smith) in San Diego, where they are trying to obtain financing for a second Marigold Hotel. The financing company informs them that an anonymous inspector will visit the first Marigold Hotel to assess the viability of a second hotel. Back in India, two new guests arrive separately at the hotel; one is Guy Chambers (Richard Gere) and the other is Lavinia Beech (Tamsin Greig). Sonny believes that Chambers is the anonymous inspector and gives him the best available room.

Greg, at the risk of being a heartless curmudgeon, I have to say that The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (T2BEMH) is completely unnecessary. Admittedly, the first Marigold Hotel had a certain endearing sweetness that made it worth watching. This second installment bored me. The only nice thing I can say about the film is that it allowed me to catch up on some sleep.

Here’s the problem: Now that this movie is a “series”, it has the look and feel of The Love Boat or Fantasy Island. Sonny plays the role of Captain Stubing or Mr. Roarke, the proprietor of an exotic home base whose sole reason for existing is to bring lovers together through the fulfillment of some sort of fantasy. The whole premise is rather juvenile and I found it as vacuous and as unrealistic as the characters’ constant fawning over the aging Richard Gere’s supposed good looks.

Well, Sonny is another problem for me. His inconsistency as a character defies believability. Never have I seen such a dumbass transform into a genius in just two hours. Seriously, the man does one stupid, immature thing after another for the first ¾ of the film, only to suddenly turn into a bright, charming, resourceful lad at the movie’s end. The narrator explains to us that Sonny may make mistakes but he always gets things right “when it matters”. I’m sorry, but it looked more to me like he always acts like a fool until the movie needs to wrap up, at which time he finally comes to his senses.

Bottom line is, the hero story lacks credibility to me. There are no real villains in the movie, although there is the rival love interest who causes a burning jealousy in Sonny. Another oppositional agent is the mysterious inspector who can potentially veto any plan to expand the hotel chain. Mostly what we have here is a hero amidst a larger ensemble cast of elderly characters who are trying to find themselves, or a lover, in an exotic location. All the actors do their job but none of them do it well enough to keep me awake.

‘Nuff said, Greg. And good reference to Love, Actually. Let’s cut to the chase. T2BEMH has some of the charm and likeability of TBEMH but suffers from a fatal case of redundancy in the script and lack of credibility in the lead character. The film has its moments but cannot sustain any momentum and ultimately bores the audience with its Love Boat-like premise. This isn’t a bad movie but it is far from good. I’ll award it 2 Reels out of 5.

The hero of the story, Sonny, has not grown on me at all. In the first film, Sonny was an innocent kid whose naiveté was endearing. Now his childlike mannerisms annoy me and defy belief. His sudden transformation to maturity was not triggered by any pivotal moment or defining lesson; it came out of no where and seemed only to exist because the movie needed to end. I give our hero 1 Hero out of 5.

The supporting cast of aging all-star actors is fun to watch, despite the tepid script they were forced to work from. Everyone delivers a commendable performance, but no one truly stands out. Richard Gere’s perfect silver hair may be the star of the supporting cast, or at least the “silver lining” in an otherwise cloudy movie. Overall, I can see giving the cast a rating of 3 out of 5.

 Movie:  Cast:  Hero: