You can wait around and hope that such consummate actors as Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton will be around forever. But they won’t. So when they show up together in a movie, even a sequel as wobbly as The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, you’d be wise to just sit back and behold. Second Best is basically the same movie as the 2012 original without the novelty. It’s still about British seniors seeking a retirement haven in India. But the follow-up only exists because the original hit the box-office sweet spot. Hollywood, which traditionally ignores the interests of seniors — heck, make that adults in general — saw a new audience to exploit. Richard Gere spices up the proceedings, especially when he takes a shine to “Sunny’s” mom, played by Lilette Dubey. Director John Madden throws everything he can at the screen, including a Bollywood wedding and the spectre of death. He needn’t have bothered. It’s delicious to watch Dame Maggie aim a zinger. And Dench and Nighy are class personified. The secret here is merely to luxuriate in the pleasure of their company.
