6. Graham's Search For Redemption - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Plot: A group of middle-aged Brits all move to a dilapidated hotel in India; Dame Judi Dench plays the newly-widowed Evelyn, who finds a friend in Douglas (Bill Nighy). Douglas is coming to realise that he doesn't love his pessimistic wife (Penelope Wilton) anymore. Dench gives a moving and subtle performance, and Nighy is excellent as usual. It's not a particularly original or exciting story though, and the pair, along with Wilton have all-star support from the likes of Dev Patel, Celia Imrie, Tom Wilkinson and the marvellous Maggie Smith, each with their own motivations to being in India. The Subplots: Any character could lead the film; Dev Patel plays a young entrepreneur trying to win a girl's heart by running a successful hotel, Celia Imrie plays an Eat Pray Love-like character in search of adventure, and the marvellous Maggie Smith is there for comic relief, playing a ignorant old woman who learns to appreciate Indian culture. The fascinating story is of Tom Wilkinson's character Graham though, a high court judge with a terminal illness, who used to live in India. As the film unravels, we learn that he fell in love with a man from the area; Graham believes that he ruined the man's life, as he'd had to have turned his back on his culture, and so he's back in India on a quest to find out what happened to him. It's a deeply emotional tale, and one that Wilkinson plays with brilliant deftness.
