Jason KingSALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN: A Review
April 5th 2012 00:58
:
Feel Good Film worth a Viewing
When Britain's leading fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is approached by a consultant (Emily Blunt) to help realize a sheikh's (Amr Waked) vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, he immediately thinks the project is both absurd and unachievable. But when the Prime Minister's overzealous press secretary (Kristin Scott Thomas) latches on to it as a "good will" story, this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.
The English are on a roll for feel good romantic comedies that are laid back this year - this is the other film you MUST TAKE YOUR PARENTS TO!!! It is great low energy fun with a bit of romance and some great humour. Thoroughly enjoyed it!!
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, one of my favourite directors, who has made such films as What's Eating Gilbert Grape (the reason I love Hallstrom), Chocolat, Cider House Rules and Dear John this film is ideal for the whole family and a real treat for elderly - they will love it and the subtle English humour. It is not Hallstrom's best work (Girlbert Grape) but nowhere near his worst. The film is similar in tone to THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL and will definitely push the poms to the front of successful and light hearted romantic comedies this year - the grey haired dollars will be going to England!
The one thing that will let this film down is its title - so many people I have spoken to have not paid it much attention claiming they thought it was a foreign film. This is an issue in itself and more people should watch foreign films - bring on culture and some damn fine product. Thank god marketing machines are in overdrive playing the trailer on TV at the right time to educate the masses.
There are two things that make this film a huge standout for me - 1) Kristin Scott Thomas - she is outstanding and so goddamn hilarious she had me crying with laughter - her private chat messages to the PM nearly had me peeing myself 2) Ewan McGregor - this is pretty much one of my favourite films I have seen him in. I normally loathe him playing the geeky quiet guy he plays a lot - I prefer him a bit more ballsy - but for me, in this film, I never once saw Ewan McGregor but instead was watching Dr Alfred Jones - his negativity and attitude towards it mixed with his overly polite manners just made my day.
The film is written by Simon Beaufoy from the novel of same title by Paul Torday. I have not read the book on this one so can't compare but I have complete faith in Beaufoy who has written the screenplays for such films as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, The Full Monty and the upcoming sequel to The Hunger Games - Catching Fire. The level of wittiness in this script is outstanding and the idea of faith verse science is played out onscreen but a bit more cleverly than normal - let's call it metaphorically.
Emily Blunt is again a superb presence onscreen and her and McGregor have great chemistry. But for me the film is all McGregor and she does not stand out more than his support. Amr Waked was pretty decent as the/ a sheikh. Conleth Hill was also notable as Dr Jones's "boss".
Now the idea of actually bringing salmon to the Yemen is slightly preposterous and that is half the reason I loved it - but I felt the film got weaker towards the end - I did not like or see the necessity of the storyline containing Capt. Robert Mayers and felt this detracted from the real story at heart. We all knew what would happen and this let me down a bit.
But it did not let me down that much. Get your folks to this one - there will be plenty of laughter to be had along with a great quirky story - out now and worth a nice 8/10 - if you are up for it do a double feature with this and Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Have a great day and thanks for reading.
The English are on a roll for feel good romantic comedies that are laid back this year - this is the other film you MUST TAKE YOUR PARENTS TO!!! It is great low energy fun with a bit of romance and some great humour. Thoroughly enjoyed it!!
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, one of my favourite directors, who has made such films as What's Eating Gilbert Grape (the reason I love Hallstrom), Chocolat, Cider House Rules and Dear John this film is ideal for the whole family and a real treat for elderly - they will love it and the subtle English humour. It is not Hallstrom's best work (Girlbert Grape) but nowhere near his worst. The film is similar in tone to THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL and will definitely push the poms to the front of successful and light hearted romantic comedies this year - the grey haired dollars will be going to England!
The one thing that will let this film down is its title - so many people I have spoken to have not paid it much attention claiming they thought it was a foreign film. This is an issue in itself and more people should watch foreign films - bring on culture and some damn fine product. Thank god marketing machines are in overdrive playing the trailer on TV at the right time to educate the masses.
There are two things that make this film a huge standout for me - 1) Kristin Scott Thomas - she is outstanding and so goddamn hilarious she had me crying with laughter - her private chat messages to the PM nearly had me peeing myself 2) Ewan McGregor - this is pretty much one of my favourite films I have seen him in. I normally loathe him playing the geeky quiet guy he plays a lot - I prefer him a bit more ballsy - but for me, in this film, I never once saw Ewan McGregor but instead was watching Dr Alfred Jones - his negativity and attitude towards it mixed with his overly polite manners just made my day.
The film is written by Simon Beaufoy from the novel of same title by Paul Torday. I have not read the book on this one so can't compare but I have complete faith in Beaufoy who has written the screenplays for such films as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, The Full Monty and the upcoming sequel to The Hunger Games - Catching Fire. The level of wittiness in this script is outstanding and the idea of faith verse science is played out onscreen but a bit more cleverly than normal - let's call it metaphorically.
Emily Blunt is again a superb presence onscreen and her and McGregor have great chemistry. But for me the film is all McGregor and she does not stand out more than his support. Amr Waked was pretty decent as the/ a sheikh. Conleth Hill was also notable as Dr Jones's "boss".
Now the idea of actually bringing salmon to the Yemen is slightly preposterous and that is half the reason I loved it - but I felt the film got weaker towards the end - I did not like or see the necessity of the storyline containing Capt. Robert Mayers and felt this detracted from the real story at heart. We all knew what would happen and this let me down a bit.
But it did not let me down that much. Get your folks to this one - there will be plenty of laughter to be had along with a great quirky story - out now and worth a nice 8/10 - if you are up for it do a double feature with this and Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Have a great day and thanks for reading.
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