Smolker Letter No. 7
The Best Exotic Marigol Hotel – A Movie Review
Memorial Day, May 28, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Last night, I saw “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.”
This movie is delightful. It is an extremely well made movie with a cast of stars who put in stellar performances.
Whomever wrote and directed this movie did a brilliant job.
I enjoyed the movie so much I can not stop thinking about it and discussing it.
In this movie a group of elderly individuals seeking fulfillment in their lives after retiring from their jobs, who do not know each other, meet in India at a dilapidated hotel they were led to believe was a luxury resort where they could live out their lives.
We learn the story of their lives leading up to their trip to India as we watch them cope with the conditions they are thrust into at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. This hotel is managed by a young man with no business talent but big dreams and an engaging personality.
There are many threads in this movie that include the individual histories of their marriages, loves, relationships, attitudes towards life, discovering happiness, and finding meanings in their lives.
They did not accept that their lives were over, even though their working “lives” were over.
There was hope for new beginnings and during the movie, they found new beginnings in surprising ways.
The movie always lead you to the unexpected, an unanticipated next chapter in each of their lives
At one point in this movie, a wife (who constantly exudes negativity by complaining about everything) tells her hen pecked husband: “If I ever want your opinion, I will tell you what it is.”
I have never read Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.”
But, I suspect this movie is like the “Canterbury Tales” because as the movie progresses each principal character tells a story about their life which is of universal importance.
In the movie, each character discovered their “truth” and achieved fulfillment by understanding that the truth about oneself is the joy of life.
Happy movie going.
You will have a lot to discuss with your friends, if you see this delightful movie.
Sincerely,
Gary
Copyright (c) 2012 by Gary S. Smolker
About Gary S. Smolker
PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY:
No enterprise can exist for itself alone. Every successful enterprise ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others. Otherwise, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist.
Imagination, open mindedness and flexibility are the most important factors in unlocking potential.
Those who embrace innovation, improvisation, continuous learning, time management, are action oriented, high energy, passionate, creative, purposeful and intense individuals are best equipped to succeed.
We all have ideas and the ability to make progress by sharing information and our ideas and also by changing our ideas when appropriate.
We should always be on the lookout for teaching and mentoring moments. We hold time like water in our hands; however tightly we clench our fingers, it drips away. But, if it falls on a seed, a seed may grow to become something that will have a positive social impact.
PERSONAL INTERESTS:
I have a passion to learn, to innovate, to lead, to mentor and to teach. I seek to write things worth reading and want to do things worth writing about.
I enjoy (a) driving a fast car, (b) having intense conversations (c) teaching/mentoring, (d) reading and (e) being involved in productive activity.
PERSONAL:
I believe in cultivating and backing passionate people, innovation, and old fashioned good ideas.
I love making human connections and spreading good ideas.
I am strongly motivated to achieve in situations in which independence of thought and action are called for.
PERSONAL GOALS:
I want to live life vibrantly, to be as sharp as a tack until my last breath and to change the world by being me.
My personal goal is to be fully engaged in life, to lead by example, to set high standards and to continue to amass firsthand experience and knowledge in all that interests me.
PERSONALITY:
I love fun and mischief. I relish absurdity. I have an irreverent, facetious and satiric disposition. I dread boredom. I have spent a lifetime reading. I have no bias against people who have lived successful and/or complicated lives. I write to release tension, to get things off my chest.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
I post articles on the "Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange" blog at www.garysmolker.wordpress.com, and "Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes" at www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com. I also post images and comments on Instagram @garyspassion.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Gary Smolker, Smolker Law Firm, 16055 Ventura Blvd., Ste 525, Encino, California, 91436-2609, USA. Phone 1-818-788-7290, e-mail GSmolker@aol.com.
Gary S. Smolker 
Sweet review! I like your style and tone 🙂
Check out mine! http://moviereviewsdirect.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/the-best-exotic-marigold-hotel-british-indian-set-romance-2012-2/
Cheers x
Thank you for your nice comment. I highly recommend that you view (1) “Hannah Arendt”, (2)”In the House”, (3) “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” and (4) “Midnight’s Children” when they are released at your local theatre.
I saw each of those films at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival. Each one of them is magnificent.
I saw “Midnight’s Children” again a few nights ago (on May 5, 2013) at a local theater in Encino, California.
According to the billboard at that theatre: “In the House” “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” and “Hannah Arendt” will soon to be shown at that theatre.
I intend to see each of those films again, when they are shown at that theatre in Encino, California.
Each one of those four films (a) will make you think and (b) help you understand what is going on in the world today.