Movie Review - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012)

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

Directed by Lasse Hallström

Let's be honest here.  With a title as odd as Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and a premise that seems almost too farfetched to be believable, this Lasse Hallström flick was facing an uphill battle.  The trailer seemed to be attached to every Oscar-bait movie last year and it conveyed nothing but boredom to me, hence the reason I never ventured out into theaters to check it out.  Much to my surprise, however, I found this light romantic dramedy quite enjoyable with its story being just different enough that it manages to hold one's attention despite its inherent silliness.

[I will say that there may be a slight favorable bias to films that take place in and around London for the next year or so for me.  After my trip over there this past summer, I find it infinitely cool to say, "I walked across that same bridge they're walking over!" which is something I certainly couldn't say six months ago.  Still, I don't think it adds a whole lot to the experience...it just maybe makes me pay a bit more attention to things than I did in the past.]

Yemeni Sheikh Muhammed (Amr Waked) has grown fascinated with salmon fishing while staying at his residence in England and longs to introduce the sport to his homeland at any cost.  He enlists the help of his financial advisor Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) who, in turn, seeks assistance from a member of the British Fisheries and Wildlife department, Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor), who finds the project silly and frivolous, insisting that the climate conditions are not adequate to sustain the foolish whims of the sheikh.  However, after an explosion in Yemen that paints England in a poor light, the Prime Minister's press secretary Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas) sees this as a perfect opportunity to strengthen British-Yemeni relations and forces Dr. Jones to assist in the project.

While the whole thing seems nearly impossible to base a movie around, I found the entire plot to be surprisingly interesting and actually completely believable.  In fact, after the film, I looked up whether the film was based on a true story (it's not) which just goes to prove that screenwriter Simon Beaufoy sold me on the weird concept.  The film certainly ends up delving into the romantic side of things as Dr. Jones and Ms. Chetwode-Talbot end up slowly becoming enamored with one another despite complications in their love lives that should prevent romance from blossoming.  While this is certainly the weakest (and most obvious) part of the film, Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor sold me on it thanks to their charm and pleasant screen presence.  It's tough not to smile when they're onscreen here.  Kristin Scott Thomas also proves to be an absolute hoot as the overzealous, pushy, and often obnoxious press secretary.  That said, there are moments where the director maybe should have reined her in as she goes a bit too over-the-top at times which awkwardly changes the tone of the flick, but it's still nice to see her take on a comedic role -- something the actress rarely does.

I honestly can't believe I'm going to say this, but you really should give Salmon Fishing in the Yemen a chance.  I legitimately had no real desire to see it, but I found myself completely entertained by the flick which is certainly a shock to this reviewer.

The RyMickey Rating:  B