Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (2011): One That Got Away

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a romantic fantasy with some attractive A-list stars. But even the beauty and talents of Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Kristin Scott Thomas can’t save this muddled film.  

Simon Beaufoy, the screenwriter, has done some pretty good stuff in the past, including The Full Monty (1997), Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day (2008) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008), but this story is not only silly, but as misbegotten as the ludicrous idea that an extraordinarily rich, British educated Yemeni Sheikh (Amr Waked) could create an environment conducive to spawning salmon in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula, and that otherwise sensible, intelligent people would go along with it.  To be fair, pretty much every character in the movie declares that the salmon breeding/fishing idea is farfetched, but this is done in order to create a sort of childlike fantasy mood that anything can happen if, like Wendy in Peter Pan, you just believe. The trouble is, this is not a kids’ movie.

Setting this tale in the modern Middle East in general and Yemen in particular is problematical. The story derives from a comic novel of the same name, which was published in 2007, before the political unrest of the last couple of years (although there has been periodic unrest in Yemen for the last twenty years). On the other hand, the producers of the motion picture must have been aware of the recent Yemeni civil war, al Qaeda activity, etc.; and I actually found insulting the filmmakers’ assumption that I wouldn’t know or that I’d just suspend my disbelief no matter how dumb the premise.

Beaufoy’s script tries to anticipate this sort of criticism, much as he anticipated the absurdity of the whole fishing idea by having characters acknowledge that fact. So there’s a little bump in the plot about cartoonish Arabs trying to assassinate the prince, but such references to the fraught political situation are so clumsy and slight as to undermine rather than gird the reality depicted. By way of apology, he also has a character explain,  "We need a good story about the Middle East that doesn't have explosions." 

I guess it’s just supposed to be a “feel good” picture about a modern land of Arabian nights and dreams that might come true.  But for me, the net impression was pretty much the contrary - like eating too much candy: it’s nice at first to taste all the sugar, but then you tire of that and are left with sticky lips and fingers, an annoyed stomach, and a feeling of regret that you engaged in the activity at all. This feeling is abetted by a rather tepid, clunky, almost nineteenth century romance between McGregor, as a button down, somewhat nerdy character, and  Blunt, as a young professional woman, who does not appear to have any actual profession. Adding to the cotton candy, fairy tale quality of the story is the character of the Sheikh – a handsome, charming, “visionary” benevolent dictator who only wants what’s best for his people.  

On the plus side (!), the cinematography is lovely, and the actors do the best they can with the material at hand. Also, Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt are quite nice to look at.  [Despite this clunker, Emily remains well ensconced on the girlfriend list.] Director Lasse Halstrom [Cider House Rules (1999), Chocolat (2000)] keeps the predictable plot moving along.

Still, there are better fluff movies around, and superior ways to spend your time.

Available on DVD and Blueray from Netflix, or for streaming at Amazon Instant Video.