Review of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012) by Philip P — 24 Jul 2012

While you may find yourself unwilling to even give this film a chance due to the extremely odd title that in no way feels entrancing, you might be suckered in by the two charismatic actors you see on the cover.

This is what happened to me as I would likely watch both Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt in anything either of them did. That both of their charming personalities can be found in this little movie about fish is downright appealing and good cause for peaked interest.

I was skeptical, even with these two, just how much I could really be pulled into a story concerning transporting the sport of fly-fishing to the desert. I'm not even a fan of fishing in general, what about the conflict presented here would make me care.

In the end, that is the job of a good film, a true test really-to initiate the non-believers. As the final scene played out on Salmon Fishing in the Yemen though I was only slightly converted. I enjoyed the performances, sure.

They were rather genuine but the concoctions of the movie's plot felt rather contrived and forced. I loved the supporting turn from Kristin Scott Thomas, its a scene stealer and she eats up every minute of it.

The two leads on the other hand do their jobs if not feeling somewhat on auto pilot because no matter how much this movie really does want to be about this nearly unattainable goal of bringing the aspirations of Sheikh Muhammed to life their is the underlying hint of a romantic comedy.

It is a lovely little film, a charmer, and the romance works and we root for McGregor's character because of the actor's abilities to turn any role into something more interesting, but the thing doesn't carry a lot of weight and for what much of the time tries to be as much a meditation on faith as it does conventional romances, it seemed like I should have taken more away from this.