Film Review – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Newsroom 17/04/2012 | 08:59

Poor Fred Jones. A middle-aged government fisheries wonk, he spends his working days selecting the most exciting pictures of fish for piscatorial reports. Meanwhile at home he gets more affection from the koi carp in his garden pond than from his cold fish of a wife. But a sea change is coming for our Fred (Ewan McGregor), in the form of glamorous Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt), a high-achieving corporate type who represents a loaded Yemeni sheikh (Amr Waked). Are there any poor sheikhs? Anyway, this one likes fishing and has got a spare 50 million quid lying about that he wants to spend on establishing… yes: salmon fishing in the Yemen.

Debbie Stowe

Spoilsport Fred points out that this is hubristic folly, not least because the desert is not known for providing suitable conditions for Atlantic salmon. Who tend to be partial to some water. But with the British government pushing the project as some rare positive PR against the backdrop of the war in Afghanistan, Fred is reluctantly caught in the net of the unlikely scheme.

The three plot strands are the progress of the project itself, the bond developing between Fred and Harriet and the sometimes calculating, sometimes hapless involvement of the government, championed by the prime minister’s acid-tongued press secretary Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas). These threads are in turn uplifting, sweet and wickedly funny.

By trying to cover drama, romance and comedy bases, the film does overextend itself a little. It can be uneven in places – a couple of Al Qaeda scenes strike an odd note and a late twist in the will they/won’t they love story is a contrivance too far. Clichés are dispensed like so much fishing bait and the whole romantic narrative – though winning in its way and well acted – feels like it belongs in an inferior film.

This is because the salmon storyline and the comic government subplot are so enjoyable. You probably never thought you would cry over salmon (except maybe the prices of the smoked stuff), but if you are of a sentimental nature you’ll come pretty close here. The concept is so preposterous that it’s hard not to find the proceedings fun and characters likeable.

The upbeat tone is prevented from becoming too syrupy by the comic interludes involving devious government high-ups, notably Scott Thomas’s PR guru. Nobody dispenses elegantly withering sarcasm with the panache of KST. This is a peach of a part for her and she delivers ably on a sharp script, with some of the funniest scenes her online exchanges with the prime minister, which neatly and wittily expose the cynicism behind political spin.

Be patient with this slow-build film, and it will get you hook, line and sinker.

debbie.stowe@business-review.ro

Director: Lasse Hallström

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Kristin Scott Thomas, Amr Waked

On: check listings

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