Movie Review: Salmon Fishing In Yemen.

Ok, so they didn’t spend what it took to make John Carter.  It didn’t have teenagers trying to kill each other.  It wasn’t even black and white and soundless.  Instead, if you can get past the title, it was a beautiful romantic comedy with some great on-screen chemistry.

In short, it’s a story about a Yemeni sheik who wants to be able to bring salmon to his part of the world.  Absurd, right?  Well, that’s part of the fun, part of the story.  Little by little, even the doubters begin to believe, or to quote the sheik, have faith.

But this movie works for two big reasons.

Jedi Knight, Ewen McGreggor is fantastic, nerdly and awkward like me, often saying the wrong things, errr, like me, but ultimately very charming (unlike me) and very lovable.   He is well matched with Emily Blunt, gorgeous, intelligent, funny and yet, adoringly vulnerable.  The moment the two meet, we know they are destined to be together, even when they aren’t.  They are just that good.  The looks.  The tilt of a head.  Their little gestures towards each other.

However, as good as they are, they are overshadowed by the scheming Prime Minister’s PR guru, played by Kristin Scott Thomas.  Her lines are biting and brilliant and her email conversations with the PM had me nearly spitting out my pop on the people in front of me.  She is cold and calculating and as funny as any character written in a romantic comedy.

Add to that the sheik, played by Amr Waked.  He makes us all believe in him and his vision.  If we don’t then it all becomes a farce.  But he is earnest and wise and so full of faith that we can’t help but want the damn salmon to run upstream.

Now, there may be better romantic comedies out there but this one I will own.  I will watch it again.  And then again.  The premise is just the right side of quirky, the romance wonderful and believable an the comedic parts, pitch perfect.  It’s a great way to spend an evening.