California Suite

The film follows four different story lines set in the same hotel, all of people either sparring off with each other verbally or - in one case - going at each other with everything they have.

My favorite coupling is played by the wonderful Maggie Smith and the equally wonderful Michael Caine. Smith plays actress Diana Barrie, who is in Hollywood because she was nominated for her first Oscar. Incidentally, Maggie Smith herself won the Best Supporting Actress award for this role.

Also out west is Jane Fonda, who flew in to meet with her ex-husband (played by Alan Alda) because their teenage daughter ran off. The pair has to settle the question of where their daughter will spend the year before going off to college.

Then there is Marvin Michaels (Walter Matthau), who is in town for his nephew's bar mitzvah. He spends a night out with his brother, who is something of a womanizer and - as a favor to Michael - hires a hooker for him. The hooker gets drunk on Tequila and Michael is unable to raise her in the morning in time before his wife arrives.

Lastly, two couples spend a vacation together, but they don't appear to have any fun at all. They trash the rental car, one room reservation got lost and it all dissolves when they spend the morning playing a mixed double of tennis. Then one of the wives hurts her ankle, a bottle of perfume breaks and the glass gets stepped in, a head is hit on the cabinet door, fainting spells, a few swings with a tennis racket and a brawl between the husbands concludes the trip.

Funny.

7/10

Film Quote

from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Quartet

At Beecham house, a home for retired musician, the annual concert celebrating Verdi's music is organized by the residents themselves.

Among them is a trio of singers, famed for their rendition of "Bella figlia dell' amore" from Rigoletto. The piece is a quartet and the fourth member of their group, the diva-esque Jean (former wife of one of the male voices in the quartet), has just waltzed into Beecham House. Her arrival has upset her former husband Reggie, who at first tries to avoid her whenever possible.

The concert this year is of particular importance, as any revenues are crucial in keeping Beecham House funded. The head organizer Cedric suggests that the quartet should perform their Rigoletto piece, which will surely increase interest in the concert. It does take some convincing, though, as Jean does not want to sing because some of her higher notes may break.

She changes her mind, however, when she learns that her former rival on the opera scene will perform an aria from Tosca ("Vissi d'arte", if you're intersted).

This is Dustin Hoffman's directorial debut and the cast is phenomenal. It includes Billy Connelly, Michael Gambon and the wonderful Maggie Smith as the ageing diva Jean.

I wanted to love the film and hoped for some more comedy, I guess. In the end, I merely liked it.

6/10