For the record, it's English. I was born in Tilbury, Essex, made temporarily 
American citizen?"
With a title like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen you’d think you were about to see a how to… documentary on PBS, but in fact what you have is a smart and consistently amusing film that might be lightweight, but its fun all the same.
Ewan McGregor, who here gets to use his native Scottish brogue at last, plays a fisheries expert who is asked by consultant Emily Blunt to materialize the wish of an ambitious sheik; bring fly-fishing to the middle of the Yemen desert. Ewan’s character feels the idea of moving salmon into a man-made lake in the middle of a desert is totally absurd, but when the British Government becomes involved, McGregor is forced to make the impossible happen, whether he believes in it or not.
McGregor underplays the role – it’s perhaps one of the least flashy roles he’s ever performed – but he gets the tone right and it’s fun to see someone with whom most of us can relate. If approached with the same idea of moving salmon across the world to the desert, wouldn’t we all think it’s nuts?
Emily Blunt plays Harriet, consultant to the sheik, and she’s fun to watch. During the last few years, Blunt has developed into one of the most consistently delightful big screen performers with what appears to be a genuinely warm and winning personality, something accentuated even further by her character in Salmon. It’s easy to see why someone like McGregor’s character would fall for her. By the end of the film we all do in the same way that McGregor does.
But the standout performance comes from Kristin Scott Thomas as the British Prime Minister’s press secretary. Her character is as sharp as a tack, a pit bull of a politician who runs her home in the same way she runs her job, with an aggressive take-no-prisoners approach, and she shines throughout. Don’t get in her way or she’ll run you over. It’s a very funny turn, and Thomas is so good at it.
During the early scenes, as amusing as they are, there’s a sense of blandness about the whole thing. Surely, you ask yourself, this can’t really be the plot of a major motion picture? But as the film continues, and the characters become more likable and relatable, the silliness of the whole project warms over you like a comfortable blanket.
While politics are at the center of the story, it’s fantasy politics. Clearly director Lasse Hallstrom has no intention of exploring our real political relationship with Yemen, which, for those who follow the news, is considerably strained right now to say the least, but Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a fairy tale and bares no relation to real life. And that’s perfectly fine.
The film won’t resonate with you once you leave the theatre, but while you’re there you’ll have a fun couple of hours. I had a great time.
