A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embarks on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible possible.
Director Lasse Hallström favours simple broad emotions over thematic complexity, but this story’s bigger themes of politics and faith require a subtle touch that is entirely absent.
Hallstrom never tames the conflict between sugary romance and tart one-liners, soggy whimsy and plot incidents such as death and terrorism. The result is a fishy tale of cod sensibilities with no particular sense of plaice.
Wetter than a fortnight in Saltcoats with comedy as sharp as a cod's elbow.
As bad as it sounds.
Too light for its own good.
The film...struggles too hard to hold interest.
It’s a disarmingly nice hour and three quarters of gentle romance and even gentler comedy, and there are worse things that can be said about a film than that.
Tamer than the book and not as funny, this is Salmon filleted. But McGregor and Blunt make fetching lovebirds, while Kristin Scott Thomas is off the scale in a rare comic outing.
As awkward as McGregor’s geeky hero and almost as confused as the titular plan, Salmon Fishing is still very likable if you’re prepared to take the bait. And it might even be Scott Thomas’ funniest turn since Four Weddings And A Funeral.
The comedy's farmed, not wild.
Attractive, picture postcard cinematography from Terry Stacey adds to the appeal of a film that is easy on the eye and pleasantly undemanding in every other respect.
Only Kristin Scott Thomas as the British prime minister’s manic communications chief lingers in the mind. Apart from her, the film sinks without trace.
One mustn't carp.
A lame, sentimental enterprise.
If it doesn't quite leap, then Salmon Fishing in the Yemen does at least float leisurely upstream on the strength of its stars' charm.
Such a preposterous premise is fair enough, if you can pull it off. By all accounts, Paul Torday's satirical novel Salmon Fishing In The Yemen does. This film does not.
The story incorporates a number of complex ideas, and while the film is an enjoyable and spirit-lifting piece of cinema, you might just get more out of reading the book.
Yemen is heaven for fish
General release. Check local listings for show times.