Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Screen chemistry is such an elusive thing that when it works, it almost doesn’t matter what the rest of the movie is like. When you find it in a well made movie from a talented, visionary director like Lasse Hallström, it’s cinematic gold. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is the story of a crazy idea and how trying to make it happen changes the lives of the people involved. A rich sheik (Amr Waked) comes up with the idea of building and stocking a salmon run in the desert. The Sheik contacts his London investment firm, where a woman named Harriet (Emily Blunt) springs into action by contacting a local salmon expert, Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) to see what he thinks of the plan. Dr. Jones frankly thinks it’s rubbish and wants nothing to do with it. And that’s that until the British government, desperate for a ‘good news’ from the Middle East latches onto the idea and decides to back it to the hilt. McGregor and Blunt are simply fantastic together. Like all great screen couples, they make even the early days of their relationship – the days when they really don’t like each other very much – feel absolutely real. That’s no small achievement given the fact that we all know how the story will end.