Judi Dench as “Evelyn” and Celia Imrie as “Madge” star in THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL. Photo by Ishika Mohan

The premise is tailored to a demographic two or three decades my senior: a group of elderly Brits travel to Jaipur, India to outsource their retirement. All are in search of something: love, purpose, an inexpensive hip replacement.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) is a romantic comedy about tradition, mortality, and the magical other. This may seem an inauspicious undertaking at best. But despite the potential for condescension and the realization of clichés, it manages to get by on the strength of its outsourced contractors. Distinguished British actors, assemble!

The script, based on Deborah Moggach’s novel These Foolish Things, is larded with formulaic lessons that we’ve seen in ensemble pictures from Stagecoach to Enchanted April. A group of people from diverse walks of life (in this case, not that diverse) come together and are transformed by a sense of community. They discover themselves with the help of those different from they are, and of course the token cantankerous racist (Maggie Smith) finds tolerance and reveals her heart of gold.

Sounds awful, doesn’t it? And yet, the august talent carries you over the flood of platitudes. “All of life is here,” proclaims Graham, a retired jurist with a secret. But when that line is proclaimed by Tom Wilkinson, who does his best with the cheesiest lines of a pandering script, it’s transformed into something resembling conversation, and you feel that you would attend the dramatic recitation of a phone book read by this cast. The ensemble is a deftly arranged band of instruments like Bill Nighy’s sincere but passive husband, Ronald Pickup’s elder Lothario, Celia Imrie’s Golden Golddigger. But the lead instrument belongs to Dame Judi Dench as widow Evelyn Greenslade. You may cringe to learn that Evelyn reads aloud from her travel blog, but her performance helps ground the film, and I could listen to that voice read inspiration cat posters. Which is not that far from some of her lines.

Tena Desae as “Sunaina” and Dev Patel as “Sonny” star in THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL.. Photo by Ishika Mohan

The ghosts of colonialism and Birdy num num looms over the film. Indian characters, led by Slumdog Millionaire’s Dev Patel as Hotel manager Sonny Kapoor, can be uncomfortably deferential to their pale guests. But as we see more of their lives away from the Hotel, a fine balance is measured out. A call center, whose employees include Sunaina (Tena Desae), the young woman Dev wants to marry, becomes a meaningful backdrop in this age of outsourcing.

The film’s primary action revolves around those in the autumn of their years, but on the other side of the script, it’s springtime. The seasons collide when Evelyn unwittingly finds a job at the call center. As she coaches Sunaina on the nuances of talking to an elderly Brit, Evelyn suggests that she not be so constricted by the script. An ironic message coming from, you know, a script, but one that resonates with what the film tries to do: treat people who are often neglected, be they grandma or a telemarketer with an accent, as human beings. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is predicatable and sentimental, but the acting makes it a pleasant enough stay.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Directed by John Madden
Written by Ol Parker, based upon the novel These Foolish Things, by Debora Moggach.
With Dame Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Dev Patel, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton.
Running time 124 minutes
Rated PG-13 for sexual content and language.
Opens today at E Street, Bethesda Row, Shirlington and the Cinema Arts Theater.