Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2012)

The Worst Film Ever

Powerful

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen attempts to take a fresh dip in the Hollywood pool, but instead turns to the typical saltwater of movies. It does reach the level of light romantic comedy without going too far on the lovey-dovey side, yet it still embraces quite a bit of unwanted cliché. And the entire film, subject, and theme is as confused as the sheikh, who is trying to build a river suitable for salmon fishing in Yemen.Is the film lightly satirical or lightly comedic with a hint of romance? The novel itself is a political satire, but the film adaptation seems to take the form of a romantic comedy with political satire abruptly injected into various moments. Hallström, with a deal of great movies under his belt, fails to achieve a proper blend of comedy and satire to render this movie effective. He should have strived for something like The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) or American Beauty (1999). Something lightly satiric and socially critical, hidden by the main part of the film. Unfortunately, we mainly just get a cliché romantic comedy.However, the movie is fairly well done. A comedic mid-life crisis with a hint of love is used to effectively drive the plot forward with ample character development and somewhat developed themes. Too bad the thematic development was left to drown so that the romantic relationship could be fully played out. Additionally, anything that can be seen from a mile away is usually considered boring and dull – and I could predict most of the movie's events with ease. Thank you, clichéd plot.The film remains entertaining and interesting with contributions by Amr Waked as the mystic and visionary sheikh. Performances by McGregor and Blunt are as stale as the characters they played – mere caricatures of the trope they are based upon. But, the writing is splendid, including well-written and witty dialogue as a main form of characterization and subtle parallelism developed throughout the film. Hallström, unfortunately, could not embrace the novel and script, leaving both to be overpowered by the immensity of love. In this case, salmon fishing probably shouldn't occur in the Yemen if this film is what it yields.

This film has a certain "something" that makes it appealing to the viewer. Although hard to put a name on it. It is a slow-moving Romantic Comedy featuring two brilliant actors in the prime of their careers, and another one (Kristin Scott Thomas) who can still bring it! It begins mostly serious and dry, with Scott Thomas doing the bulk of the comedy. The viewer will probably find it difficult to follow whether the main theme revolves around fishing, Middle Eastern relations, or the subtle developing relationship between co-stars (Ewan) McGregor and (Emily) Blunt. If one is still following the story after forty-five minutes of watching the development of a back-story with boring details about U.K. governmental fisheries operations, then it will pay-off when it becomes possible to see the true development of the characters. Blunt practically makes you fall in love with her simply from a standpoint of sympathy due to an unexpectedly tragic loss of her military boyfriend, Capt. Robert Mayers (Tom Mison). While McGregor eventually loosens up and transforms from a Mr. Do-everything-right type, tight-lipped, standoffish, fish loving nerd. Into a fun, lovable, if-not heroic fish loving nerd. Much like the salmon who swim upstream, this film fights through the current of boredom and somehow emerges through the waters-edge to capture the interest of the viewer. Though not a special effects giant, the actors carry the story that carries the film, and entertains enough to almost make one want to dig through that closet to find those waders! Well, ...maybe not.

I came into this film with low expectations. I had loathed the book, so was interested to see how such a tedious work could possibly translate well to the screen.The movie blew my pessimism out of the water within the first ten minutes. The acting was just brilliant. I particularly enjoyed Kristin Scott Thomas and felt she should've played more of a part, but both Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor were excellent and infinitely watchable. The script was lovely with just the right balance of humour and sentiment, and the cinematography was very nice indeed.One of the best non-clichéd romantic comedies I have seen in years. Well worth watching.

A lot of the other reviews have said this film is trite, whimsical, sickly, dull, stupid, fluffy and melodramatic. They are all correct. But none of that stopped me enjoying it greatly. The story is as old as the hills; two very different people have to go and perform a task against their wills; find out they get on, but shock horror things get in the way. There is a reason this story is so old, because it works.Here it is excellently told and totally engaging. The characters are painted with a big brush using bright colours, but they are interesting, unusual and easy to emphasise with.Because you get attached to the characters the film becomes tense in places and although their is little action I found it quite exciting in a subtle way. We laughed out loud, sighed and groaned in all the right places.Some people have been quite harsh about this film saying it brings down British politics or demeans foreign cultures; I think they are watching this film with their serious hat on. Don't expect Apocalypse Now this is a light comedy about fishing in the desert with a bit of romance thrown in.