SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is an adaptation of Paul Torday's satirical novel. It stars EWAN MCGREGOR as Dr. Alfred Jones, a scientist in the Department of Fisheries who is approached by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, EMILY BLUNT, on behalf of Sheik Mohammed of Yemen, AMR WAKED. He wants to introduce salmon fishing into his country and needs Alfred's help. Alfred is not impressed. The Prime Minister's department hears about the idea and, desperately needing some good news from the Middle East, exerts pressure in the form of ministerial advisor Patricia Maxwell, KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS, and Alfred finds himself reluctantly involved.

I was a bit ho-hum about Torday's novel, and Lasse Hallstrom's steering of Simon Beaufoy's screen adaptation has gone for the soft centre. This is really a romance in an exotic setting with a lot of fish and little of the satire, except in the character of Patricia Maxwell and Kristin Scott Thomas absolutely relishes her, she's marvelous. The two leads are attractive, it's a nice role for Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt is a good match for him. Egyptian actor Amr Waked is super as the sheik. I think it's possible to be quite snooty about this film, but I really enjoyed it.

ABC - At The Movies
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At every film festival, a movie comes along that just lifts your spirits, leaves you feeling good about life and even better about the movies. At Day 5 in this year's Toronto International Film Festival, for me it’s Lasse Hallstrom’s charmer, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.”

The film has a grand cast, with Emily Blunt, Ewan McGregor, Kristin Scott Thomas and Amr Waked at the center of this very clever tale of modern eco-issues intertwined with old-style political intrigues and New Age romance. But let's start with Simon Beaufoy’s script.

Beaufoy co-wrote (with director Danny Boyle) the film that occupied this slot for me last year, “127 Hours.” In case you've been under a rock, James Franco starred as a hiker trapped by one, then driven to extreme measure to survive, so you know Beaufoy’s got a real feel for stories that are a testament to the human spirit, which comes in handy here. He’s also the writer responsible for that classic bump-and-grind on the British class system, “The Full Monty,” so he’s good at exposing the truth of things when it comes to people and politics.

With “Salmon Fishing,” adapted from the novel by Paul Torday, he’s working with Hallstrom, who has a knack for romance and gives this new film a wonderful quirky side the way he did so winningly with “Chocolat”, “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?” and “The Ciderhouse Rules” some years back.

Everything is set in motion by a flare-up in Afghanistan, British politicians' desire for a good news story they can use as distraction and a wealthy sheik’s love of salmon fishing, philosophy and his country (Amr Waked is terrific). An improbable project involving fish and a desert is undertaken to fulfill one of his dreams and by the time the film is done with us, it’s hard not to feel there is hope for romance, the possibility of peace and even a little patience for politics.


LAX Time
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