The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

I saw this with the Angie (yes it seems I only go to the movies when the Angie is around)  I saw the first movie with her 4 years ago.  Like most sequels, this did not live up to the original movie.  Basically in the first movie a bunch of British pensioners move to India to live in a "restored luxury" hotel mostly for economic reasons.  The hotel is not finished being worked on, the manager is highly energetic and enthusiastic if not experienced.  It was a great movie as each makes the best of their new situation.  The sequel starts with Evelyn and Douglas (Jean left Douglas because she couldn't adapt in the first movie) still dancing around their feeling for each other because of fear, Mrs Donelly has had her surgery and helps manage the hotel as well as help rein in Sonny, Madge has found not one but two wealthy "boyfriends" Norman and Carol have hooked up.. sort of, Sonny and Sunaina are getting ready for their wedding, Sonny is looking for financial backing to open a second hotel - since his guests only seem to check out upon the final check out.

Possible spoiler ahead:

This movie mostly revolves around Sonny's lunacy as he expects a mystery hotel inspector to show up at the hotel - He is SURE it is Guy Chambers (played by Richard Gere) while Mrs Donelly is SURE it is Lavinia Beach.  Guy is  interested in Mrs Kapoor when she arrives for the wedding festivities, SOnny is tornbut pushes his mom towards him thinking it will help get his backing.  Meanwhile a childhood rival from a well to do family arrives in town - and helps Sunaina choreograph her wedding dance.  This makes Sonny super jealous as he sees Kush as better looking, more talented, a great dancer (to Sonny's non existent dance skills) and he has Daddy's wallet backing him up.  Sonny goes a little more nuts when he finds out Kush has purchased and is renovating the building he wants to buy.  It really is amazing Sunaina still wanted to marry him after everything he does.  

Evelyn is supposed to meet  Douglas's daughter, coming to India to give a talk and is surprised when his not ex wife Jean comes along.  Jean wants a divorce saying she has had a proposal (fabricated in her own mind) on grounds of desertion or adultery, Douglas is willing to give her a divorce as he has moved on in life - but says she deserted him and he is not guilty of adultery.  SHe actually asks Evelyn why she isn't attracted to him (since she suspected imminent adultery in the first film) Evelyn feels she still needs more time to decide about Douglas, when her new assistant (she is offered a job as a textile buyer from the company she has been working for unofficially) asks how much time she has left to decide. (harsh as the Angie put it ) 

Norman thinks he may have inadvertently put a hit out on his girlfriend Carol, by saying something about her holding him back from other women while drunk in a cab and grossly overtipping the driver, after a cab with the scorpion logo almost runs Carol down in the street.  In his quest to save Carol from the one eyed driver, he discovers she is sleeping around with other men.  He also discovers there is a whole fleet of scorpion insignia'd cabs not just one following Carol.  He finally confronts her - and she is surprised he isn't sleeping around, she is because she thinks he is, and they discuss experimenting with monogamy (crazy kids) 

Madge is trying to decide between her two suitors each of whom proposes during the film, in the process she befriends her driver and his niece  - who she meets at the doctors office while accompanying Mrs Donelly to an appointment we are left believing did not go well.  Her final decision made me smile.

I'm not going to tell you how this all ends- I will tell you the movie wasn't as good as the first, and I might have been pissed if I paid full price for the tickets.  However, as the Angie and I went to a 9:15am showing (yes the child was awake in time to go to breakfast at 8am!) so the tickets were halfprice, I enjoyed watching the movie - as I've said in my book reviews, I enjoy finding out what happens to characters after the fact - so I end up seeing some really horrible sequels--  This wasn't.