Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is directed by Lasse Hallstrom, who has made a couple of my favourite films (Chocolat, The Cider House Rules), the classic My Life as a Dog and a couple of films I believe to be hugely underrated (The Shipping News, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape). Since I tend to appreciate all of Hallstrom’s films more than the average critic, the mediocre critical response to Salmon Fishing did not deter me.

But by showtime, I had begun to reconsider. There were approximately 100 people in the theatre with me. I counted six men among them, all accompanied by a woman. Not since Bridesmaids have I felt so conspicuous and alone. So I revved up my “feminine side” and settled in for what I now assumed must be a “chick flick”.

Good thing, because Salmon Fishing works primarily as a quirky romance and not very well as a political satire. With my feminine side revved up, I found myself falling in love with both of the main charcters. I have, in the past, made some unflattering comments about Ewan McGregor’s acting ability, but it’s time to admit that I may have been mistaken. McGregor has starred in two of my top ten films of the past two years (The Ghost Writer, Beginners) and I thought his performance in Salmon Fishing was spot-on (as it was in those two films). As for Emily Blunt, whom I have always considered a fine actor, there is something about her that I find particularly appealing (I last saw her teamed up with another appealing actor, Matt Damon, in the underrated The Adjustment Bureau), making her one of those actors I will go out of my way to watch (she needs to be added to my list from February, 2010). I am even considering going to see The Five-Year Engagement when it comes out (whoa! time to get that feminine side under control).

The romance in Salmon Fishing works because the chemistry between these protagonists (and between the actors playing them) is so much stronger than the chemistry between each of them and their “partners”. It also works because they do not even kiss in the film, let alone have sex. That is remarkable for a 21st-century film and I found myself wondering whether the women surrounding me (in the theatre) were likewise impressed or whether they were disappointed.

As for the background plot of Salmon Fishing, which concerns a very wealthy Yemenese sheik and his attempt to introduce salmon to his country (with the help of our crazy protagonists), it fails at various levels. The quirky comedy (especially involving Kristen Scott Thomas’s character as the British press secretary) sometimes works and sometimes falls flat. That’s okay. What isn’t okay is the lost opportunities for insightful political commentary (even worse than in The Hunger Games) and for humanization. The Yemenese sheik keeps talking about the poor in his country, but we don’t get to see them (filming in Morocco instead of Yemen doesn’t help). The sheik is obsessed with salmon fishing but tells Dr. Jones (McGregor) that introducing salmon to Yemen is not really about fishing but about helping the poor and about helping the rich and poor in Yemen stop being afraid of each other. Laudable sentiments, but they never become anything more than words (perhaps, as in The Hunger Games, the book does more) and the sheik comes across as patronizing at best.

There is a subplot about faith which is likewise not developed enough to be profound, though I appreciated the effort (sometimes you need to do things on faith).

All in all, I did, as with other Hallstrom films, enjoy Salmon Fishing more than the average critic (primarily because of Blunt and McGregor) and I will give it a solid *** in spite of the disappointments. It’s a family-friendly film, so recommended to all, and I believe I enjoyed it more than War Horse (at least it didn’t grate on me quite as much). My mug is up.