"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

Took in a mid-afternoon showing of the recently released "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" today. I typically find British dramas better than American ones: deeper characterization and a little less likely to have everything tidied up at the end. Measured by those standards, BEMH was nothing special but still enjoyable. On location filming in Jaipur and Udaipur lent an air of reality (and familiarity for us) to the production.

Retiring to a cheaper country is popular on this side of the Atlantic. Costa Rica, Belize, and even Mexico attract some Americans because of their lower costs of living. I'm not sure where the Brits are really going but I doubt that it's India. Not that India would be a bad choice except that the local retirement industry hasn't yet developed to a condition that would satisfy most Westerners.

BEMH's plot was occasionally forced. (How often is it that a recently retired English High Court judge who had spent his boyhood in India drops dead of a heart attack the day after being happily reunited with his adolescent lover, and a gay one at that?) Its stress on sexual autonomy in the face of advancing age and cultural barriers is hardly earth-shattering but the film's illumination of the need for continuing meaningful physical relationships among older folks was well put.

Topping off the evening was a visit to Rajput Indian Cuisine that made our day. Excellent palak pakora appetizers, a main course of chicken tikka masala, and fine roti and naan left us pleasantly overstuffed.