Have you ever heard it said: The older we get, the smarter our parents become? Well, they might indeed become smarter, but what the phrase really implies is, as we age from childhood into adulthood, finally we gain the skills needed to understand how smart they were all along.
When it was released in 2012, I remember sitting with my precious second mama and salon partner — eating popcorn, laughing out loud, and tearing up a few times — as we watched “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” on the big screen. It’s the story of a group of English senior citizens who decide to move to India for their retirement, and nothing turns out quite as planned. They find love, renewal and purpose amidst a new culture and a few obstacles along the way as their host and innkeeper, the irrepressible Sonny played by Dev Patel, shares his brand of eternal optimism: “Everything will be all right in the end … if it’s not all right then it’s not yet the end.”
How could a director go wrong when he brings Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Penelope Wilton and other talented veteran actors together with a good script? Well, my Peggy and I can hardly wait until “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” yes, the sequel, opens on the big screen this weekend. We have saved our coins for the pricey popcorn, reviewed the original film on the slightly smaller screen in her den, and are poised for the laughs and the tears as Richard Gere joins the cast to the delight of the ladies staying at the hotel. Penelope Wilton as Jean left the hotel and her husband in the first movie, but returns in the sequel to “visit the old crumbling ruins and see how the hotel was doing as well.”
This is a terrific movie for seniors who realize or need to be reminded that there is still a great deal of joie de vivre at this stage of life and a chance for those of us not quite there yet to remember that we have much to learn from our parents and grandparents. It’s also a wonderful opportunity for intergenerational sharing.
That kind of sharing is what I am looking forward to as I gaze at the big screen seated next to a woman who has taught me so much and who loves us all so well, both when we deserve it and even occasionally when we don’t. After all, isn’t that mark of true love?
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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