Movie Review--"The best exotic Marigold Hotel" for the elderly and beautiful

Last Saturday (the day before Mother's Day) my daughter, Annett, my sister, Beth, and I drove  to 33rd South in Salt Lake to the Century 24 Theater to see the "Marigold Hotel" movie.  The theater was filled with grey hairs, as expected, and we commented that Annett was probably the youngest person there at 51.  She said, although she liked the movie, it was probably most familiar to those in the audience who could relate to the story.

The characters are British, elderly retirees who, because of various financial reasons, find themselves attracted to an advertisement about the Hotel Marigold in India for "the elderly and beautiful."  However, when they arrive after a hazardous journey, they find it is not as they were led to believe.  The characters are forced to either adapt to their new environment or be miserable.  

The cast includes:
Judi Dench is Evelyn, a recently widowed housewife whose house had to be sold to pay her husband's debts.
Maggie Smith is Muriel, an ex-housekeeper who is efficient at running a home and has a talent for bookkeeping.  She also needs a hip replacement with a six month wait in England.  The doctor tells her she can get it in India much sooner.
Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton are Douglas and Jean, a couple who have been married for 39 years.  Douglas is anxious to experience India but Jean spends her time reading in the hotel.  She can't seem to adapt to life in India.
Tom Wilkinson is Graham, a high court judge for many years in England.  He lived in India the first 18 years of his life.  He has punished himself wrongly his whole life for an incident when he was young that he feared ruined the life of a friend.  It didn't.
Two more retirees round out the group.   Ronald Pickup as Norman, a single man looking for a new woman, and Celia Imrie as Madge, a single woman,"not by choice," with several unsuccessful marriages.  She has become the babysitter for her daughter in England and escapes to India in search of fun and adventure.

The movie highlights each character as they evolve and experience India in all the splendor of noise, smells, poverty and people.  The hotel itself is quite shabby and almost uninhabitable. The young owner, Sonny, is so enthusiastic about the possibilities of success that the hotel is also transformed.

The dialog is quite clever and uplifting.  My favorite saying by Sonny goes something like this:  It's not the end until it's over; and if it's not over it's not the end.  I think that is a great philosophy.  Who knows when anything is over or when the end will come?  Muriel helps to resurrect the hotel.  Evelyn, Douglas and Norman find that love can happen at any age.  Jean learns to let go of the past and Madge moves on to her new life of adventure ahead.