Rent Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)
3.5 of 5 from 443 ratings
1h 43min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Ewan McGregor as Fred Jones, a fisheries expert who is approached by Harriet (Emily Blunt) with a plan to introduce salmon into the waterways of Yemen. Despite Fred's protests, he soon finds himself working on a project that seems not only frivolous but absolutely unfeasible in the arid land of Yemen. Yet as the mission begins, they find that hope can spring - even in the most unexpected places!
- Actors:
- Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked, Catherine Steadman, Tom Mison, Rachael Stirling, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Tom Beard, Jill Baker, Conleth Hill, Alex Taylor-McDowall, Matilda White, Otto Farrant, Hamish Gray, Clive Wood, Nayef Rashed, Peter Wight, Waleed Akhtar, Steven Blake, Hugh Simon
- Directors:
- Lasse Hallström
- Producers:
- Paul Webster
- Writers:
- Simon Beaufoy, Paul Torday
- Studio:
- Lionsgate Films
- Genres:
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Collections:
- 2012, 2013, CinemaParadiso.co.uk Through Time, Getting to Know..., Getting to Know: Ewan Mcgregor
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 03/09/2012
- Run Time:
- 107 minutes
- Languages:
- English Audio Description DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.40:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Miracles Happen: Making Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
- The Fisherman in the Middle East: Novelist Paul Torday
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Reviews (7) of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Pleasantly surprised - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen review by MP
It's such a nice film! My wife wanted to see it and to be honest I didn't. However withing about 1 minute in was hooked.
Ewan McGregor is wry food indeed and it's the sort of role Emily Blunt excels in.
Enjoyable romantic film.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
A beautiful film with pitch perfect Ewan McGregor/Emily Blunt chemisty - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen review by TB
Being a massive Ewan McGregor fan, this was one of his films which I hadn’t seen but wanted to. The inclusion of Emily Blunt as well as Amr Waked (who had a brief but very effective and powerful role in Syriana) added to this.
Within 5 minutes of starting, this film had me completely engrossed in it. Ewan’s performance, which openly references at one point his character’s Asperger’s/autism, is perfect and he manages to make you at all times feel the emotions his character does. How you slowly see him go from being an utter cynic with limited social skills to someone who openly cheers as his project comes to fruition is a joy to witness.
But special mention must go out to Emily Blunt, whose chemistry with Ewan is as good as Nicole Kidman’s was in Moulin Rouge. Blunt is a fine actress and her positivity at all times against Ewan’s character’s negativity and how she slowly wins him round is worth the price of admission on its own. Their chemistry is one that hopefully will be seen again soon on screen.
Much has been made of Kristen Scott Thomas and her against type role, which again was enjoyable, although she was mainly regulated to shouting down a phone for much of it.
A big mention must go out to Dario Marianelli, whose soundtrack, much like for The Brave One, fits like a glove. Cinematography and direction are also flawless.
The only part which did rankle slightly was the inclusion of a plot device in Blunt’s character arc in the last third which, after the perfectly performed build up, didn’t sit well. The main reason for this was it took the focus away from the partnership of Ewan/Emily, which the whole film perfectly sat round.
But this is a minor complaint about a film which, as the credits rolled, left me with a big smile on my face as well as a sadness that the story had come to an end. Very gentle but highly recommended viewing for pretty much all ages.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Red herring - Salmon Fishing in the Yemen review by Katmac
Persevered with this film for half an hour but switched it off at the utterly ridiculous scene of the Yemeni character fishing by wading waist-deep in full Yemeni traditional costume through a Scottish river, saying to Ewen Macgregor how wonderful it is that there is no racism among fishermen. Silly and completely unbelievable construct.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso
A rather disappointing romantic comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen has plenty in it’s arsenal to make a catchy little British comedy with a little heart warming romance at it’s core. What is delivered instead is a predictable and rather touchy-feely romance with a bizarre and frankly poorly explored premise.
Based on the best selling novel by Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen tells the story of Sheikh Muhammad (Asr Waked) an incredibly rich man with a love of fly fishing who employs a British fisheries expert, Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor), to help him build a suitable lake for the sport in the middle of the desert. To accomplish this he also requires a little help from the British government, in the form of the Prime Minster’s PA, Patricia Maxwell, the one likeable character played by Kristen Scott Thomas.
The romantic element comes from the problematic relationship that develops between Jones and the Sheikh’s financial assistant Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt), whose job it is to convince Alfred to get on board with the Sheikh’s plans. Her methods of doing so are a little unorthodox – although at first the pair do make vague attempts at not falling for each other – but end in an utterly unsurprising fashion.
The cast list for the movie comes as quite a shock considering the tawdry nature of the final piece, but one imagines that on paper this looked like a diamond in the rough; perhaps in the hands of someone such as Richard Curtis a better balance might have been struck, the movie was directed instead by the Swede Lasse Hallstrom who has turned the movie into passably charming romance.
One can’t help but feel as though the full potential of this movie has gone unexplored, the comedy elements almost entirely forgotten and the final outcome somewhat of a disappointment.