Review: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Talk about bloody barmy ideas, get this: Amr Waked plays a Yemeni sheikh who comes up with the cockamamie idea of introducing salmon fishing in the Yemen. To achieve this he has asked his British consultant Emily Blunt approach the Department of Fisheries, and specifically, socially awkward scientist Ewan McGregor. McGregor (whose character seems to suffer from slight Asperger’s), rightly scoffs at the very notion of it. I mean, introducing salmon fishing in the middle of the bloody desert? Enter the British PM’s press secretary, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, who is desperately looking for something to improve relations between Britain and the Middle East, at least on a superficial, public level. Thus, McGregor finds himself reluctantly involved in the whole barmy exercise of having to export salmon naturally occurring in Scotland to the Middle East. Yeah. Rachael Stirling plays McGregor’s frumpy wife, who is unhappy in their marriage and goes off to Geneva for work. Meanwhile, Blunt has a British officer boyfriend currently on active duty in Afghanistan. Do you think there’s a chance that McGregor and Blunt might grow close due to circumstances, chemistry and all that? Good, you’ve obviously seen a movie or two in your time. Conleth Hill plays McGregor’s boss at the Department.

 

Worst title for a movie ever? Certainly it gives “Journey to the 7^th Planet”, “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants”, and “Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came” a run for their money (to name but a few questionable titles from the annals of cinematic history). However, once you get over that, this 2011 romantic comedy from the always eccentric Lasse Hallstrom (“My Life as a Dog”, “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, two more films with strange titles) definitely has its charms. It sort of felt like “Local Hero” re-imagined as a romantic flick and written by someone like John Cleese or Michael Palin (though if it were written by them, the fish would be changed to a herring or an halibut, no doubt), but with a main character that you’d swear was written for a young Sir Alec Guinness. It’s certainly very, very British in the best sense.

 

I guess it’s one of those quirky romances you either go with or resist instantaneously, and your fondness for the main stars will probably help dictate your reaction, too. Ewan McGregor is instantly likeable and well-cast as a slightly dull fisheries expert. He might be a cool guy, but McGregor really does play nerdy very well. It’s the sort of role Colin Firth would’ve played a few years ago, but to be honest, I prefer McGregor on screen. Meanwhile, I love Emily Blunt. God I love her and I don’t care that her name sounds like very naughty cockney rhyming slang. I love the way she is always teasingly flirting with blokes in movies. She also has an almost slightly bitchy or at least cynical aspect to her that is strangely attractive. It’s the damndest thing. She’s also incredibly stunning. Basically I’m declaring my intention to marry her. The duo make for a really perfect screen couple, but I’m pretty sure I’ve said the same thing about Blunt and Matt Damon in “The Adjustment Bureau” and Blunt and Jason Segel in “The Five Year Engagement”. Kristin Scott Thomas isn’t the warmest of screen presences, but she has some fun moments, especially her way of dealing with her hoodie-sporting son. Very funny and unexpected. Amr Waked is also pretty enjoyable as the sheikh. Oh, and Lord Varys (Conleth Hill) looks awfully bloody weird with hair. Even creepier than he is on “Game of Thrones”, sans hair.

 

Yes, it’s predictable of course, but all romantic films have a formula to adhere to relatively closely. That’s why they work (when they do work), and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (the overrated “The Full Monty”, the even more overrated “Slumdog Millionaire”, and the harrowing “127 Hours”) doesn’t really try and reinvent the wheel in adapting the Paul Torday novel. One slight stray from the usual romantic comedy formula that I especially appreciated was that Blunt’s boyfriend isn’t made to be the biggest jerk in the world. Like “Sleepless in Seattle”, this one avoids that little trap. I’m not exactly sure that the Rachel Stirling character of the frumpy wife is especially well-written or well-played, but the rest of this is really lovely and looks terrific. This is a nice (if quirky) film about nice people, whom you absolutely want to see together at the end. I found this one a really pleasant surprise and really charming.

 

Rating: B-