Wow, that title makes this film sound so startlingly boring, and it's about, well, as the title tells you, salmon fishing, so I almost have to praise this title for making a film like that sound somehow less boring. Well, in all fairness, the fact that it's about fishing in… More
Wow, that title makes this film sound so startlingly boring, and it's about, well, as the title tells you, salmon fishing, so I almost have to praise this title for making a film like that sound somehow less boring. Well, in all fairness, the fact that it's about fishing in the Middle East by Ewan McGregor definately makes it sound like it's going to be reasonably lively, though let me tell you, don't get too excited kids, because this is just some dull little spot in the Middle East and Ewan McGregor is just playing some Asperger's syndrome-striken dude named Dr. Jones, and I definately don't mean Dr. Indiana Jones, so don't exactly go in expecting Obi-Wan Kenobi fighting terrorists and busting out in grandly theatrical musical covers of Elton John's "Your Song". I don't know if I myself was so much expecting that when I walked into the film, as much as I was hoping for that, and when I heard that it also deals with McGregor's Fred Jones character developing a friendship with a Sheikh, I was also hoping for a climax in which Sheikh Muhammad betrays Fred Jones, and thus they engage in a fishing pole duel over lava... that's in the Middle East for some reason (I have enough trouble believing that the Middle East has water). Yeah, as much as such Middle Easterns as Sheikhs still keep getting mistaken for terrorists in the US, I'm sure they appreciate me saying that I expect them to betray someone. I can think of plenty of people who would say that it's enough of an offense that I'm comparing a Sheikh to Hayden Christensen in the "Star Wars" prequels, and to the people who think that, I say shut up, I actually liked Hayden Christensen in those films, yet even if I did find him boring in those films, chances are that he would still be more exciting than this film...'s title. To my surprise and relief, the film isn't nearly as slow as I was expecting, and does, in fact, "reel" you in more often than not. Still, don't quite go in expecting this to be quite as heavy as that silly Obi-Wan vs. terrorist scenario I came up with earlier, for although this final product is certainly more interesting than its title, make no mistake, like the art of fishing itself, watching this film is going to require a bit of patience.
I joke about how the title and subject matter sounds like the makings of a bore of a film, but really, the actual plot details are rather interesting and supplementary to the film's being actually more entertaining than not in the long run, though considering the high-caliber dry Britishness behind it and director Lasse Hallström's taking on such other films as the fine yet perhaps too slow "What's Eating Gilbert Grape", I was going in expecting this film to dull out here and there. When it comes down to it, the film never really dulls out, nor even dries up all that much, though neither does it "hook" all that much, "drifting" along steadily but surely, particularly during the development segment, which doesn't really make for all that sharp of a "hook". Like the rest of the film, the first act is never dull, as there's still juice in the air and eventfulness in the structure, though hardly all that much, as things get to be rather repetitious and overlong in exposition's going padded to the point of losing steam after a while, and very shortly thereafter, losing what it was hoping to "catch": you. After that, the development segment "flows" into the "body" (As in body of water), the film picks up, though still never really goes that far, for although it never gets as repetitious or do-little as the development segment, the body - nay - entirety of the film after the development segment remains rather repetitious and underwhelming, with little eventfulness, little bite and, ultimately, an unfortunate inability to build up all that much steam, and for this, I don't know if I can so much blame director Lasse Hallström or even screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, but rather, Paul Torday for the premise behind his book and its adaptation. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Torday's book is a decent read, as its premise sounds built more to unravel better on paper, rather than on-screen, for although this film's subject matter is rather interesting, there's just very little meat to it, or in other words, not a whole lot of "bait to bite at" (Sorry for the pun-ishment kids, but I can't help these fishing puns), lacking the consequence and intrigue needed to justify the more artistic ambitions and talents that go into this film and just end up drying the film up, certainly not to the point of being all that slow, let alone all that dull, though still decidedly to the point of rendering the film very predictable and a bit bland. The film is what it is, it's just that what it is is a predictable fluff piece, only with a bit more relative drama and distinguished talent that never really goes all that firmly backed up by especially strong potential, thus leaving the final product to not stand all that strong, as a whole. Still, as the film stands, it's still a pretty enjoyable watch, for although it was never going to deliver all that much, the film isn't as limp as I make it sound, largely because of the talent that stands behind it, which may not be enough for the film to strike all that deep, but win you over through and through.
As I said, Paul Torday's story, while a bit lacking in all that much meat, remains rather interesting, not just its studies upon certain cultures and the science and business of relocating salmon to an area to which they are indigenous for sport (Fishing, one of the few things in the world that's much less interesting than the science and business around it), but in its story, for although there's not a whole lot of bite to the film's or, likely, the book's concepts, the stories and characters have a kind of livliness to them that holds the potential of winning you over more than losing you, based on charm alone. When it comes down to translating Paul Torday's original concepts to the screen, Simon Beaufoy, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of "The Full Monty", "Slumdog Millionaire" and "127 Hours", of course, delivers as sharply as he can, delivering on his traditional Brit-tastically sharp, dryly clever and charming dialogue and humor to compliment, albeit rather limp - being that Beaufoy's hands are tied by the restraint in the source material -, yet generally smooth story structure and characterization, made all the more relatively livlier in directorial execution. Lasse Hallström is, of course, a directing veteran with plenty of justly well-recieved and notable titles to which his name is attached, yet in recent years, he tends to shoot for fluffier material such as this and do little, if anything to raise the final product past decent, yet inspiration tends to stay intact, to a certain degree, and certainly stands here, for although Hallström makes no effort to carry this film past workmanlike, he puts enough calm inspiration into this project to give a certain livliness (Though rather, unfortunately, not without considerable sentimentality) in what handful of dramatic points there are, as well as a consistent kind of sharp charm that keeps it more entertaining than not and from dulling out, while the performers add an extra kick to keep your attention sustained more often than not. Obviously, there's little for the performers to do, yet this remains a cast studded with talents who plays their parts quite a bit, if not relatively considerably more than adequately, and certainly with a lot of charisma, whether it be Kristin Scott Thomas as the strong and firm yet reasonably down-to-earth business and family woman, or Amr Waked as the noble yet also down-to-earth and lively Sheikh, with particular standouts within the cast behind found behind the film's central focuses, or at least just one of them, for although Emily Blunt delivers on the occasional piece of impressive emotional range that gives what drama there is some weight, while keeping consistent with charm, come on, she's going up against a Scot, and it's hard to beat that charm, especially when we're talking about Ewan McGregor. I love Ewan McGregor and think that he's an excellent actor, something that this film definately doesn't have the material to remind us of, though it's a good thing that this film offers a lot of opportunity for charm, something that McGregor is definately no stranger to, so sure enough, McGregor sparkles with charisma, playing up the Fred Jones character's moderate Asperger's syndrome with an authentic restraint and sophistication for you to feel the innocent uncertainty and intriguing cerebral sharpness in a way that makes neither too light or too heavy of Jones' condition, while incorporating a kind of natural humanity that further defines Jones and leaves McGregor to smoothly slip into his role, yet not at the expense of the charm that is just so distinctly Ewan McGregor. Each performer plays his or her part as well as he or she can, delivering on individual, colorful and altogether memorable charm that, when combined, creates the static chemistry needed to further sell this film and make it as enjoyable as it is. This film never really stood a chance of delivering as genuinely good, being not much more than fluff, yet on that level, the film still doesn't deliver too upstandingly, but keeps you going more often than not, and by the end, expect to walk away feeling generally warmed to and by the final product, though not necessarily all that rewarded.
Bottom "line" (If you catch my "drift"), the film is what it is: a highly predictable fluff piece with little bite in its subject matter, made a bit worse by some repetition, the occasional bit of padding and something of a somewhat disengagingly dry atmosphere spawned from perhaps too intelligent and reasonably artistic sensibilities, thus leaving the final product to fulfill its potential of being not much more than decent, which remains a ways away from terribly mediocre, let alone contempt, for although the film doesn't strike terribly deep, its concepts and subject matter remains rather interesting and charming, especially when brought to life by Simon Beaufoy's clever and generally well-structured screenply, Lasse Hallström's (mostly) naturally flawed yet charmingly reasonably inspired direction and a slew of strikingly charismatic performances, bonded together by effective chemistry, thus leaving "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" to "reel in" audience attention more often than not and make for a generally entertaining effort that's as enjoyable as it can be, given its fluffiness.
2.5/5 - Fair
