From “A Room with a View” to “Enchanted April,” it’s been a movie truism that British people have to leave Britain if they want to unshackle themselves from their soul-crushing Britishness. And so we have “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” in which a handful of pensioners set off to retire in India, where they learn life lessons, fall in love, and get a second chance at being useful.
It’s basically a feel-good fantasy for the Rascal set, but “Marigold” proves itself rather hard to resist, from the colorful, sun-soaked delights of Jaipur (as captured by cinematographer Ben Davis) to a cast of heavy-hitters who know how to take the slight screenplay by Oliver Parker (based on a novel by Deborah Maggoch) and spin it into comedic, and even dramatic, gold.