Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and their fellow British pensioners are all still living in Dev Patel's dilapidated Jaipur hotel
Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and their fellow British pensioners are all still living in Dev Patel's dilapidated Jaipur hotel.
It might be a risky strategy putting Second Best in the title, but this sequel successfully sticks to the winning formula of the original movie, though it does cram in too much.
It’s bursting at the seams with storylines, which include Patel getting into all sorts of trouble while organising his wedding and mistaking a new guest, Richard Gere, for an undercover inspector for potential investors, Nighy hesitantly courting fellow guest Dench and Celia Imrie juggling two suitors.
With that much going on, there is too little for the characters to do but, fortunately, the assured cast gives even the lamest lines and silly situations a comic zing, while Smith and Dench, in particular, bring real depth of feeling to their roles.
