Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Film Predictions

Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

This typically is this branch's version of the Best Picture award, and sometimes they pick the award show juggernaut more recent wins like The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Slumdog Millionaire No Country for Old Men, and The King's Speech, but more often than not they pick the true "ensemble film" The Birdcage, The Full Monty, Traffic, Gosford Park, Sideways, Inglorious Basterds, and The Help.

What type of year will this be?  An award show sweep or one where they pick a truly great ensemble.  The problem with that is that Argo has been sweeping up the trophies, and their ensemble is pretty great.  Argo is the spoiler.  Silver Linings Playbook won this award at the Broadcast Film Critics Awards like The Help last year.  Silver Linings is the favorite, and will probably win.  If Lincoln happens to win it will win Best Picture.  A win here here would obviously bump up the chances of Silver Linings Playbook too.

Will Win: Silver Linings Playbook
Should Win: Argo
Spoiler Lincoln, Argo

Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Motion Picture
Bradley Cooper-Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis-Lincoln
John Hawkes-The Sessions
Hugh Jackman-Les Miserables
Denzel Washington-Flight

Day-Lewis wins this in a walk, when people think Lincoln they think his performance, and this could be the reason it has not been winning in the "Best Picture" categories.

Will and Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis-Lincoln

Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Motion Picture
Marion Cotillard-Rust and Bone
Jessica Chastain-Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence-Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren-Hitchcock
Naomi Watts-The Impossible

The battle is one, Jessica Chastain versus Jennifer Lawrence.  While at the beginning of this award season this race looked to be one of the most boring, but in fact its one of the most interesting again this year (like last year).  I will add this SAG category is the one of the worst at predicting a win, past winners, which did not win at Oscar were Viola Davis for The Help, Meryl Streep in Doubt, Julie Christie in Away from Her, Renee Zellweger from Chicago, and Annette Bening for American Beauty.    These five women won here at SAG and lost at the Oscars.

I am going to stick with my initial prediction, and go with Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, but Jennifer Lawrence is a very very very close second.  If Lawrence wins look for this category to have a surprise winner on Oscar night.

Will and Should Jessica Chatain-Zero Dark Thirty
Massive Spoiler-Jennifer Lawrence-Silver Linings Playbook

Best Performance by an Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Alan Arkin-Argo
Javier Bardem-Skyfall
Robert DeNiro-Silver Linings Playbook
Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Master
Tommy Lee Jones-Lincoln

One of the biggest toss ups, with Bardem out of the race, and Arkin a distant fourth.  Silver Linings Playbook, and Lincoln were well loved by this group, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the only nominee from The Master.  So its DeNiro versus Jones.  Jones unlikeable move at the Globes could hurt him.  I am going to to go with DeNiro, but I do not think he deserves a nomination for this role.

Prediction: Robert DeNiro-Silver Linings Playbook
Should Win and Spoiler: Tommy Lee Jones

Best Performance by an Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Sally Field-Lincoln
Anne Hathaway-Les Miserables
Helen Hunt-The Sessions
Nicole Kidman-The Paperboy
Maggie Smith-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Get a better speech ready Ms. Hathaway, you will win tonight, and at the Oscars!

Will Win: Anne Hathaway
Should Win: Sally Field-Lincoln

Oscar Roundup 2012: BAFTA, Blimey I Think They've Got it!?

Over the the many years of the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) there are two apparent facts, they line up for the most part with Oscar, but they also take care of their own.  What does that mean?  British films, directors, actors etc tend to make it in over the surefire Oscar nominee.  Looking down blow you will see how Oscar and BAFTA line-up in regards to Best Picture, which actors recieved nominations at BAFTA (not at the Oscars), and how this will impact this year's nominees at BAFTA, and the Academy Awards.

In the Best Film/Picture world, over the last 8 years BAFTA has done well.  2004 was  BAFTA's weakest year in recent memory they only matched 2/5, and was the only year without the the Best Picture winner nominated in a long time, which is truly an anomaly.  Of the BAFTA nominees that missed at Oscar time the three were some how affiliated with UK production, showing one of the trends with the way BAFTA and Oscar may not always align, and proving a little bias from the country of origin.  The same can be said with the acting categories.

 BAFTA                                                            Oscar 

The Aviator*	The Aviator
Finding Neverland	Finding Nverland
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind	Million Dollar Baby*
The Motorcycle Diaries	Ray
Vera Drake	Sideways

In 2005 BAFTA picked British film The Constant Gardener over the very American Steven Spielberg's Munich. In 2006 BAFTA went 4/5, picking the British film The Last King of Scotland, over Clint Eastwood's Letter's from Iwo Jima, this was also a sign that Dreamgirls was weaker than predicted. In 2007 (as seen below) BAFTA went 3/5, picking a German film, which had no shot at a Best Picture nomination, and American Gnagster, which was directed by the famed British director Ridley Scott.

 BAFTA                                                            Oscar 

Atonement*	Atonement
No Country for Old Men	No Country for Old Men*
There will be Blood	There will be Blood
American Gangster	Juno
The Lives of Others	Michael Clayton

In 2008, 2009, and 2010, with their five nominees predicted all of the Best Picture nominees.  Unlike the Academy their did not switch to the 10 picture system or the 5-10 picture system.  In 2011 BAFTA only predicted 3 Best Picture nominees, and like within years prior this was based on their tendency to award British or Foreign Language films. Last year's 2011 was the weakest year where the Academy had more than 5 nominees.  In the diagram below it shows that BAFTA only had 3 of the Academy's 9 nominees.  Tinker Tailor was a UK film, and well liked by their Academy, while Drive's nomination was just something proving they sometimes have better taste than us Yanks

BAFTA                                                                     Oscar 

The Help	The Help
The Descendants	The Descendants
The Artist*	The Artist*
Drive	Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	The Tree of Life
	Midnight in Paris
	Moneyball
	War Horse
	Hugo

In the acting categories their are often many famous Brits who make the cut at BAFTA, but are left in the lurch come Oscar time.  Here is a list by category:

Best Actor in a Leading Role (6)

Ralph Fiennes-The Constant Gardener (2005)

Daniel Craig-Casino Royale (2006)

Richard Griffiths-The History Boys (2006)

Dev Patel-Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

Andy Serkis-Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2009)

Michael Fassbender-Shame (2011

Best Actress in a Leading Role (7)

Kate Winslet-Finding Neverland (2004)

Judi Dench-Mrs. Henderson Presents (2005)

Keira Knightly-Atonement (2007)

Kristin Scott Thomas-I've Loved You So Long (2008)

Kate Winslet-Revolutionary Road (2008)

Saoirse Ronan-The Lovely Bones (2009)

Tilda Swinton-We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (11)

Phil Davis-Vera Drake (2004)

James McAvoy-The Last King of Scotland (2006)

Leslie Phillips-Venus (2006)

Michael Sheen-The Queen (2006)

Brendan Gleeson-In Bruges (2008)

Christian McKay-Me and Orson Welles (2009)

Alfred Molina-An Education (2009)

Andrew Garfield-The Social Network (2010)

Peter Postlewaite-The Town (2010)

Jim Boradbent-The Iron Lady (2011)

Kenneth Brannaugh-My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role (16) 

Heather Craney-Vera Drake (2004)

Julie Christie-Finding Neverland (2004)

Brenda Blethyn-Pride and Prejudice (2005)

Toni Collette-Little Miss Sunshine (2006)-Aussie

Emily Blunt-The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Frances de la Tour-The History Boys (2006)

Samantha Morton-Control (2007)

Kelly McDonald-No Country for Old Men (2007)

Frieda Pinto-Slumndog Millionaire (2008)

Tilda Swinton-Burn After Reading (2008)

Ann-Marie Duff-Nowhere Boy (2009)

Kristin Scott Thomas-Nowhere Boy (2009)

Miranda Richardson-Made in Dagenham (2010)

Lesley Manville-Another Year (2010)

Carey Mulligan-Drive (2011)

Judi Dench-My Week with Marilyn (2011)

Of the the BAFTA nominees over the last 8 years 40 of them have been Brits who have not gone on to be nominated at the Academy Awards.  This only counts the Brits who were not nominated, but about 1/4 of the BAFTA nominees over the last 8 years were not nominated at the Oscars giving nominees a 3/4 chance, which are pretty could odds.

So who gets nominated and how will this impact the Academy Awards?  Given the non-consistent statistics and the BAFTAs honoring their own states men and women so regularly look for a different list of nominees, which may or may not look like my predictions below.  I tried to use the the above stats to help guide my predictions, but this is a massive shot in the dark! Listed below are my predictions:

Best Film 

Argo 

Lincoln 

 Les Miserables

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

alt: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Daniel Craig-Skyfall

Daniel Day-Lewis-Lincoln

Hugh Jackman-Les Miserables

Anthony Hopkins-Hitchcock

Joaquin Phoenix-The Master

Alt: Ewen McGregor-The Impossible

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Marion Cotillard-Rust and Bone

Judi Dench-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Helen Mirren-Hitchcock

Jessica Chastain-Zero Dark Thirty

Naomi Watts-The Impossible

Alt: Jennifer Lawrence-Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor in a Supporting Role 

Alan Arkin-Argo

Javier Bardem-Skyfall

Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Master

Tommy Lee Jones-Lincoln

Eddie Redmayne-Les Miserables

Alt: Tom Wilkinson-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Judi Dench-Skyfall

Anne Hathway-Les Miserables 

Sally Field-Lincoln

Nicole Kidman-The Paperboy

Maggie Smith-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Alt: Samantha Barks-Les Miserables

Best Director 

Ben Affleck-Argo

Kathryn Bigelow-Zero Dark Thirty

Sam Mendes-Skyfall

Tom Hooper-Les Miserables

Steven Spielberg-Lincoln

Alt: John Madden-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Oscar Roundup 2012: Producer's Guild Tries to Narrow Down the Field

On January 3rd the Producer's Guild Award (PGA) nominations will be announced.  Sasha Stone over at awardsdaily.com has compiled an incredible analysis on this award, and the impact on both Oscar nominees, and eventual winners.  Over the last few years the Academy Awards rules for Best Picture have changed, in both 2009 and 2010 there were 10 nominees, meanwhile in 2011 their could be anywhere between 5 and 10 nominees (9 films made the final cut at Oscar).  The PGA maintain their ten nominee rule, thus making this group more help in determining the top contenders for the top prize rather than a better statistical analysis on all of the winners.

Last years set of nominees were as follows:

• The Artist (Winner)
• Bridesmaids (replaced by Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)
• The Descendants (AA nominee)
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (replaced by Tree of Life)
• The Help (AA nominee)
• Hugo (AA nominee)
• The Ides of March (only 9 nominees)
• Midnight in Paris (AA nominee)
• Moneyball (AA nominee)
• War Horse (AA nominee)

Of last year's nominees The Artist, The Descendants, War Horse, Hugo The Help, Moneyball, and Midnight in Paris were sure fire nominees.  While precursors could have narrowed that list down a bit those 7 films seemed to be the most solid.  Bridesmaids made the cut because of its big box office, btu was never a serious contender.  To be honest I am shocked Tree of Life and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close made it in over The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and The Ides of March.  In the end who knows what made those two the eventual Best Picture nominees, but they meet the different extremes in regard to critical reception. 

With the new Academy structure for voting the Best Picture race goes back to being about the top 5-10 films they are passionate about rather than checking off 10 films like within 2009 and 2010.  In 2010 the list almost matched up 10 for 10 with Winter's Bone replacing The Town at the Academy Awards.  In 2009 the PGA went 9 for 10 as well, the PGA nominated Invictus while the Oscars nominated The Blind Side.

Year after year the PGA usually match up, missing one of the Best Picture nominees, 2008 The Reader, 2007 The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2006 Dreamgirls, 2005 Walk the Line, and so on.  So what does this mean?  With a definitive 10 nominees we could have a year like last year where as many three films do not line up, or as we know based on statistics one "bigger" film will receive a nominations and will not be in the Oscar line-up.  One of the important statistics that comes from this award is the eventual winner, although within this shortened Oscar season this may change.  So who will make the the top ten?  Here goes nothing:

The films guaranteed to make the cut

Argo

Lincoln

Les Miserables 

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

I would argue that if the Academy goes back to five films, or there were five films nominated this year these would be the five, although with Les Miserables mixed reviews, it could have fallen into a Dreamgirls situation, but these seem to have the most passionate, ardent fan base in the Picture category.

The Strong Bets

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Moonrise Kingdom

All of these films are solid, doing well at the box office (or performed well at the box office), and have the feel of strongly produced films.  If there are only 8 nominees I would argue that these would be the 8, and this could be the case.  Rather than muddying up the waters the Academy may want a clean 8.  However based on precursor awards these are the best performing films.

The Last Two Spots...

Before I even list off these last two spots all I have to say is that they are tough to predict, these last two spots are the two films which based on probability may not make the cut, but I have to go with my gut. In alpha order my thoughts:

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel-SAG and Golden Globe nominee, did excellent at the box office, while these have direct impact, the film was a hit on all levels, and has a strong shot at a Best Picture nomination.

Beasts of the Southern Wild-While the film has made the top ten at Critics Choice, National Board of Review, and American Film Institute, does no Globe nominations mean something?  Maybe, but this could also be the art house film that makes the cut.

The Dark Knight Rises-The Dark Knight was a nominee, but does this film have the legs to also make the cut, I unfortunately do feel as though this film will, but it still has a shot, namely because its an impeccable concluding chapter. 

Flight-Never count out a film like this, with great passion and determination, this could last year's Extreme Loud type Oscar nominee.  The only draw back is that Flight has not made major award shows Best Picture list.

The Master-This year's Tree of Life, although I am actually not convinced people "love" this film the way folks loved Tree of Life.  The Master made the Critics Choice top ten, but I am not convinced that's enough to help them here.

Skyfall-The most successful James Bond film at the box office and critically, at the moment the film is the fourth highest grossing film of the year, and this is the place where all of these accomplishments may just be rewarded.  On the other hand its a Bond film.

And now my final 10

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Django Unchained

Lincoln

Les Miserables 

Life of Pi

Moonrise Kingdom

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Alt. Skyfall

Lincoln, Les Mis, and Silver Linings Playbook Lead with Four Screen Actors Guild Nominations

For the first time since their inception, the Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) announced their film (and television) nominations before the Golden Globes. In the beginning the award show calendar was a lot longer and the Globe winners actually impacted the SAG nominations.  As the years passed and the calendar shrunk, the SAG nominations started to released after the Globe nominations happened, giving award show gurus/pundits a chance to examine to sets of data.  This year SAG beat the Globes to the punch, gaining newfound glory in Oscar predicting, but will the stars line-up, and will this have any impact on Oscar?  Let's examine the nominees:

Best Ensemble
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Four of these nominees were expected, and have been set to be Best Picture nominees for a while now. The only somewhat surprise is Marigold Hotel, the film fills that "ensemble" spot often filled by films like The Full Monty, The Birdcage, and a few others, but is this film a Best Picture threat?  Hotel will pick up a bunch of Globe nominations, and has two here, do not count this film out, I think it could be the little film that could (in regards to getting nominations).

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper-Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis-Lincoln
John Hawkes-The Sessions
Hugh Jackman-Les Miserables
Denzel Washington-Flight

Joaquin Phoenix put his foot in his mouth about awards, and the actors listened.  Phoenix snub is a bit surprising, but not totally off base from this group.  Cooper's performance is too hard to forget, and I knew he would get included, I thought they would snub Hawkes.  This could be the final five come Oscar time, The Master is divisive, and Joaquin's comments about not caring about the Oscar ran out clearer than his apology.

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain-Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard-Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren-Hitchcock
Naomi Watts-The Impossible

I predicted this category completely.  None of this is surprising, and also could be the top five come Oscar time, but Beasts of the Southern Wild did not qualify so look for Quvenzhane to be a threat to Mirren's spot.  Emmanuelle Riva could also be a spoiler.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin-Argo
Javier Bardem-Skyfall
Robert DeNiro-Silver Linings Playbook
Phillip Seymour Hoffman-The Master
Tommy Lee Jones-Lincoln

First thing, this looks like the Oscar nominees to me, and if so everyone in this category has won, this happens very infrequently.  With all five being Oscar winners, Tommy Lee Jones is bound to win again.  I must say I am proud of Badem; he is going to to become the first actor to be nominated for a Bond film, and be the franchises first nomination (along with song and Cinematography).

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Sally Field-Lincoln
Ann Hathaway-Les Miserables
Helen Hunt-The Sessions
Nicole Kidman-The Paperboy
Maggie Smith-The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

All I have to say is Nicole Kidman's nomination is the biggest WTF moment of the day for me, did she get for being peed on?  Field, Hathaway, and Hunt are now locks.  Smith has a great chance as well, and people just seem to nominate her for reading the phone book.  Kidman and Smith are double nominees this year (nominated in television categories).  This category always has some shake-ups, look for Ann Dowd and Amy Adams (with whom I am shocked missed a nomination) to be major players still.

Best Stunt-Ensemble
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Miserable
Skyfall

Summer 2012 Movie Wrap Up

Summer movie season has had different start dates in different years, often journalists and bloggers have decided these numbers based on major box office achievements.  For example last year Fast Five mad a great deal of money in April, however this could be seen as a fluke.  I am going to use the prescribed notion that May (even though the first day of Summer is in June) starts the Summer movie season.

May 

The Avengers (2012) cleaned up!  Not only did the film rake in enough money to become the second highest grossing film of all time, but the movie lived up to its expectations.  Disney made up for the flop that was John Carter, and saved their massive bank.  The Avengers was well reviewed, number one at the box office for several weeks, and started the Summer on a great path.

Little did audiences know that The Avengers incredible start would provide audiences with one of the few watchable films from this month.  May provided numerous box office flops. and all of them were a mess in terms of quality.  Dark Shadows, Battleship, What to Expect When Your Expecting, and The Dictator all were financial failures, and sucked the life out its audiences.  Men in Black III escaped the poor quality of the second film, and while it did out perform the other films had the box office the film did well.

May drummed up some quality films with two small gems in Moonrise Kingdom, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  Both films had much smaller theatre counts than many of the summer releases, but they both had some pretty solid box offices.  Kingdom is one of the best reviewed films of the year, while Hotel had middling reviews it still was a breath of fresh air compared to the other low brow material.

June 

I was pretty excited about June, there were a lot of films on my radar that may not have looked like Oscar calibre films, they looked like they would still be fun.  Unfortunately I faced a bit of a letdown.

June started with Snow White and the Huntsman, the film was a flop creatively (although Charlize is one of the fairest in the land), but performed solidly at the box office.  Who knew that not long after we would find out how K-Stew got the part, what an awful miscast.

I skipped both animated films from this month, but both Madagascar 3 and Brave performed excellent at the box office.  I heard some mixed things about both films )in regard to the quality.  This is the year of Abraham Lincoln as well, and while I am intrigued to see Daniel Day Lewis portray this former president, I had no desire to see him as a vampire, and most of America did not either.

Prometheus proved to be ethereal, the film pulled me in with the concept of directing a film that tied back to the lore of the Alien films, but could not gain massive audiences once people figured out the film was just as cryptic as Lost.

America and critics did not love rock and roll.  Rock of Ages which could have had mass appeal, was a commercial and critical flop, proving that musicals need more than relate able songs.  Adam Sandler appeal has also been fading as well.  People did not want to watch him player a loser dad to someone who was not much younger than him in real life in That's My Boy.

June had its share of small films released, To Rome with Love, and Beasts of the Southern Wild.  Allen fell flat with a change of location from Paris to Rome, and could not charm audiences or critics with his film.  Meanwhile Beasts has done the exact opposite, and has garnered a lot of buzz which could carry the film to numerous Oscar nominations.  Proving quality wins over the name.

June closed things out with two different things strippers and a teddy bear.  Magic Mike worked magic on audiences and critics (although I thought it was terrible) proving that Channing Tatum to be one of the biggest stars of the year.  Seth MacFarlene took his own magic from television to the big screen with Ted, and had the largest R rated box office of the year (so far).  June had a much more interesting end than beginning.

July 2012

July 2012 proved the theme of the summer was super heroes.  The reboot of the Spider-Man franchise, The Amazing Spider-Man did not match the original series, but made hefty some of money, and bested the quality of the original as well (in my opinion).  The much anticipated conclusion to the reboot of the Batman franchise was finally released 4 years later, and while The Dark Knight Rises was not as good as The Dark Knight, nor will it make as much money, the film was solid, and still will make a massive amount of money.

The rest of films from July feel like a blur to me, while Ice Age made money, the film never floated my boat, skipped.  Oliver Stone's Savages seemed to go up in smoke, get the munchies, and forget where it was.  Step Up should really go with the straight to DVD track like Bring it On.  The biggest failure was The Watch, which was panned by the critics, but their marketing campaign failed them even more, and the film did not fill any seats.

August

August is the month that starts to slow things down with less explosions and hodgepodge of random films.  August is the island of misfit toys for the "ideal summer film."  The Bourne Legacy tried to change this by attempting to change things up with a new story for the the franchise.  The film fell flat on its face with critics (the first time in the franchise), and has not performed well at the box office.  Total Recall tried to capture the fun of the original film , but never quite got there either.  Ironically the film sequel about a bunch of old school action stars has been the film which has had more people talking, and doing better at the box office.

With only three films containing major action/explosions the rest of August was like a grab bag ranging from Premium Rush (a pseudo action flick) to Hope Springs with Meryl Streep, both which got decent reviews, but under performed at the box office.  The Campaign filled the role of the token comedy, which also had decent reviews, but no one seemed to interested in the schtick.  Lawless tried to be the first serious drama/Oscar contender leading into September, but looking at their opening weekend numbers the film has garnered only solid reviews, and poor box office receipts, which means forget it! How can you forget the kids? August has give us Paranorman, which has not given the same numbers as Ice Age, but seems a shoe in to a major contender for the Animated feature Oscar.

As the Summer drew to a close I was plagued with the concept that year and year out Hollywood rebukes the concept of making the film experience fun by attempting to try and win audiences over with cheap ploys.  Hollywood has started to lose this battle as box office numbers, and film quality go down.  The average audience viewer can't afford to see a terrible film because of a major celebrity, they have to be choosier.  The summer of super heroes has proven that these are bankable enough, but that depth matters as well.  Many of the smaller films paid off for the companies proving that audiences never want to thinking (per say), but they do want something good making them feel like leaving the warm summer sun was worth their time.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is Entertaining, but at the end Feels like you Checked out too Late

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (3 out of 5 Stars)

Directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, Proof, The Debt)

Written by Ol Parker (Imagine Me & You) 

Starring : Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Dev Patel, and Maggie Smith

Imagine a place in beautiful India where the elderly can go to find peace and relaxation for the remainder of their lives.  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is far from the luxury in its advertisement.  The story centers on a group of elderly individuals who is looking to escape/leave behind some of the baggage they have unintentionally accumulated at the end of their lives.  

Evelyn's (Dench) husband kept secrets about their financial status leaving her strapped. Doug Ainslee (Nighy) and his wife Jean Ainslee (Penelope Wilton) have invested poorly in their daughters internet company.  Madge (Celia Imrie) has grown tired of living off her children and wants another rich husband.  Graham (Wilkinson) lived in India many years ago and has returned to find a long lost love and the passion India brought to his life.  Norman (Roman Pickup) wants youthful passion.  Murial (Smith) needs a hip replacement, and India provides her with the quickest opportunity to get the surgery.  Together this group along with the hotels manager Sonny (Patel) come together and find peace as they find their place in this foreign country at their age.

John Madden directs this all star cast, and creates a beautifully shot film full of great imagery, which helps speak the films central story.  The story is more about exploring the unknown elements of this foreign environment, and how stepping outside of your comfort zone forces a person to grow and develop at any age.  Parker's script aides in this process and creates some beautifully heartfelt stories, with some witty humorous moments.  The script also creates some problems for the film by focusing on too many characters and stories, which sometimes appears daunting for Parker to tackle.  With too many characters the film sometimes loses focus and over extends your presence as a guest into this dilapidated hotel. 

Even though the script is a bit long, the performances of a few actors bring back the heart and character of this story.  The standouts were Dench, Wilkinson, and Smith.  Dench is the narrator of the groups evolution and journey; she finds her place realizing she tackle working, loving, and finding the core of what it means to grow, and find ones self for the first time in her life.  Wilkinson acting is almost effortless,but he always challenges himself to get to the depth of a character.  As Graham Wilkinson battles his own fears and trepidation by returning to a country and a former lover whom he feels he has wronged, but on this journey he finally comes to peace with himself.  Yet within most films Maggie Smith is the scene-stealer; she is funny, touching, and shows so much depth in a woman who fears change the most.

The film is is entertaining, but at the end feels like you checked out too late, and Madden and Parker drown the message with sap.  The film feels prolonged and even though there are several enjoyable performances, and we get to see the beauty of India, the story suffers from a lack of focus.