Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Starring Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas
Star rating: ***

Having read the book, I was looking forward to see how it was going to be adapted into a film. The characters seemed too complex in the book to translate into film as much of the book was about what was not said rather than what was. I was worried that the sarcastic humour would not come across as well. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this adaptation and came out having watched a heartwarming film.

Ewan McGregor plays Dr Alfred Jones, an unhappily married scientist who is brow beaten into a government project that will bring game fishing to the Yemen. The project is handled by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt), an investment consultant who represents a rich sheikh (Amr Waked) fond of fishing and is willing to pay as long as the British govt cooperate. Harriet is also mourning the loss of her boyfriend Robert who has been chartered into fighting in Afghanistan. The story revolves around how these two wounded-by-love individuals find that they are much the same whilst working on an 'impossible' project of teaching Salmon fish to swim upstream in a dam in the Yemen.

This film is enjoyable in storyline and in its setting. Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor are cast as two empathic leads who somehow portray the vulnerabilities of each of their characters with just a look or gesture. They play well off each other and play the bickering 'couple' with finesse. Scott Thomas is great as the sarcastic and ruthless Press adviser to the PM and she does have some funny one liners. The direction for this film have to be mentioned with some gorgeous panoramic shots of the Scottish Highlands and of the Yemen landscape.

This is very much a film you would watch to cut time but it is worth a watch on a night in where all you want is a happy ending!