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Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

  • 2011
  • PG-13
  • 1h 47m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
68K
YOUR RATING
Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)
An expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embark son an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.
Play trailer2:31
19 Videos
59 Photos
Feel-Good RomanceQuirky ComedyComedyDramaRomance

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 p... Read allA 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.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
  • Writers
    • Simon Beaufoy
    • Paul Torday
  • Stars
    • Ewan McGregor
    • Emily Blunt
    • Amr Waked
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    68K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Lasse Hallström
    • Writers
      • Simon Beaufoy
      • Paul Torday
    • Stars
      • Ewan McGregor
      • Emily Blunt
      • Amr Waked
    • 181User reviews
    • 229Critic reviews
    • 58Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 6 nominations total

    Videos19

    No. 2
    Trailer 2:31
    No. 2
    No. 2
    Trailer 2:30
    No. 2
    No. 2
    Trailer 2:30
    No. 2
    No. 1
    Trailer 2:31
    No. 1
    Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
    Trailer 2:32
    Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
    Salmon Fishing In The Yemen: I Am Your Mother
    Clip 1:00
    Salmon Fishing In The Yemen: I Am Your Mother
    Salmon Fishing In The Yemen: Man Of Faith
    Clip 1:30
    Salmon Fishing In The Yemen: Man Of Faith

    Photos59

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    Top cast26

    Edit
    Ewan McGregor
    Ewan McGregor
    • Dr. Alfred Jones
    Emily Blunt
    Emily Blunt
    • Harriet
    Amr Waked
    Amr Waked
    • Sheikh Muhammed
    Kristin Scott Thomas
    Kristin Scott Thomas
    • Patricia Maxwell
    Catherine Steadman
    Catherine Steadman
    • Ashley
    Tom Mison
    Tom Mison
    • Capt. Robert Mayers
    Rachael Stirling
    Rachael Stirling
    • Mary Jones
    Tom Beard
    Tom Beard
    • Peter Maxwell
    Jill Baker
    Jill Baker
    • Betty
    Conleth Hill
    Conleth Hill
    • Bernard Sugden
    Alex Taylor-McDowall
    • Edward Maxwell
    Matilda White
    • Abby Maxwell
    Otto Farrant
    Otto Farrant
    • Joshua Maxwell
    Hamish Gray
    Hamish Gray
    • Malcolm
    Clive Wood
    Clive Wood
    • Tom Price-Williams
    Nayef Rashed
    Nayef Rashed
    • Rebel Leader
    Peter Wight
    Peter Wight
    • Tory Grandee - Angus Butler
    Waleed Akhtar
    • Essad
    • Director
      • Lasse Hallström
    • Writers
      • Simon Beaufoy
      • Paul Torday
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews181

    6.868.2K
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    Featured reviews

    8Dan_L

    Just a Joy to Watch

    Seriously, "Salmon Fishing in The Yemen" is simply a joy to watch. Not since "Hugo" have I seen a film with so much heart to it. What makes this such a joy is its impish sense of humor, irreverence toward the British government, the simply delightful acting of leads McGregor and Blunt (who has never looked so good as she does here), the appealing nature of so many characters, and, perhaps most of all, its unpredictability. The audience enjoyed an awful lot of laugh out loud moments, a few tears, and a bit of excitement and danger. The film had you rooting for its the Sheik and the two lead characters -- and unlike all too many films, you don't see where it's going. If you enjoy a whopping good time at the flicks, this is a film you should see on the big screen while you still can.
    10blsnd

    How Refreshing!

    Just when I thought I was finished going to movies because so many are just plain vulgar, boring, and loud and not worth the investment of my time, along comes this near perfect piece of filmmaking. The story, the characters, the actors that were chosen, and the dialogue (refreshingly witty and at times thought provoking)... it all comes together in so enjoyable a fashion that I did not want the show to end! Aside from the foul-mouthed politicians (what a surprise, right?), there was not one minute of the movie I would change in any way. If you want to come away from a movie-going experience feeling good with plenty of information to discuss afterwards with your date, then RUN to see "Salmon Fishing in Yemen"!
    8dhanson2k

    Best Film at Toronto

    There's a line in the movie that goes, "We need a good story about the Middle East that doesn't have explosions." This is it! Hilarious and touching, Ewan, Emily, and Amr are fantastic. Ewan plays this homely, heads-down British government biologist to a T. Amr is a promising newcomer. And Emily is always amazing. I saw this at the opening in Toronto and the audience loved it. No wonder it was the first one sold at the festival. A big of an underdog, a lot of other people thought it was the best they saw too. Maybe they should change the name to something catchier. That's my only suggestion. I hope this changes how people view the middle east, even in a small way.
    7cosmo_tiger

    A very entertaining movie that will appeal to everyone, not just fisherman. I recommend this. I say B+

    "You can't catch faith with a fishing rod." After Harriet (Blunt) contacts Dr. Alfred Jones (McGregor) about a Shiek from Yemen who wants to bring the sport of salmon fishing to his country he laughs it off. After being given no choice in the matter Jones begins to do just enough to keep his job. After meeting the Shiek and helping Harriet through a crisis his outlook begins to change. He puts everything he has into making the dream possible. The sign of a good movie is one that keeps you interested and makes you like it when you aren't even in the mood to watch it. I wanted to watch this based off the preview, but at the time I sat down to see it I really wasn't in the mood for a movie like this. It did start off a little slow but quickly sucked me in and by the end I was so into it that I couldn't remember why I didn't want to watch it. I have fished many times but I'm not what you would call an avid fisherman. The reason I say that is because this movie has the perfect balance of enough fishing to keep fisherman entertained, but not enough to make it all about fishing, much like the way "A River Runs Through It" did. The last twenty minutes of the movie makes you feel a proverbial "rollar-coaster" of emotions. Every few minutes something happens that changes how you feel while not turning into the cheesy and sappy ending that it could have been. Overall, a good movie that people who fish and those who don't will both enjoy. I liked it. I give it a B+.
    8DICK STEEL

    A Nutshell Review: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

    With a title like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, it's either a story about the impossible, or that which deals with fishing. It's thankfully the former which makes it a little more engaging and less of a focus on what could be a solitary activity, and a romance-comedy-drama that centers about the theme of hope, even though this British film has plenty of elements to keep one entertained, especially the good ol British wit and humour that comes fast and furious when the need calls for it.

    Directed by Lasse Hallstrom whose last film was an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' Dear John, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is based on the novel by Paul Torday, that tells the unlikely romance that sparked between Dr Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor) and investment consultant Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt) while working on a theoretically possible project funded by a rich Yemeni Sheikh Muhammad (Amr Waked). Dr Jones, the bureaucrat stuck in a dead end job and happily coasting along in spite of having useless superiors, is the initial skeptic, preferring the status quo than to question and set challenges for himself, being the expert on fishing and a mean fly-fisher himself, while Harriet is that can-do go-getting consultant who doesn't take no for an answer, herself in a sub story arc involving a British soldier sent to the frontlines in Afghanistan.

    Together, they work under a programme mooted by the Sheikh to bring salmon fishing to his country, which of course has plenty of detractors especially from extremists who see this as a waste of resources spent on infidel activities involving the West, especially so since Kristin Scott-Thomas' thrash talking Bridget Maxwell, the publicist for 10 Downing Street, sees it as opportunity to raise the Anglo-Yemeni friendship and profile. The character of Bridget Maxwell is probably the one bringing in most of the laughs for her potty mouth ways, with expletives almost always finding their way into her communications, verbal, over the internet, or otherwise, and you'd wonder just how the Prime Minister's Office could have survived one PR disaster after another.

    Most of the narrative circled around the friendship and relations formed between the trio of Dr Jones, Harriet and the Sheikh, developing bonds that wouldn't have existed if not for this 50 million pounds project. It's not as if it is about those with plenty of oil money and finding themselves not knowing what to do with it, but about the spreading of far larger ideals that go into community bonding. And the romantic tale almost felt like an after thought into the second half, finding it irresistible not to have now fellow colleagues fall in love because it's a waste of good looking talent not to. There isn't any threat in the film to put things in a spin other than the battle against nature and elements that get systematically addressed, and extremists who don't get air time lest this film gets spun into a war on terror story, aside from an assassination and sabotage attempt.

    It's been too long since Ewan McGregor played an Englishman, and one with impeccable manners at that, which is something his character will strike you from the onset, minding his Ps and his Qs, with the penchant for the prim and the proper. The subplot involving a slowly estranged wife was something seen coming since it stood in the way of a possible relationship with Emily Blunt's Harriet, and essentially is a weak point in the narrative that could have been done without, since it added little emotional depth to the plot. Harriet on the other hand had an equally tit-for-tat plot arc that also didn't do wonders for the story, and together they made it feel as if there was a need to throw each character into their respective romance (or lack thereof) arcs with someone else until work got in the way. It didn't help of course when Kristin Scott-Thomas was in her element being cast against type.

    ultimately it's a feel good movie about hope and that leap of faith, so long as someone is funding a dream to fruition or failure. The more important central arc of fulfilling the titular dream was the most engaging, with sub plots being nothing more than a distraction that didn't offer any emotional depth, and padded the story to a feature length one. Thankfully there's comedy thrown in now and then, otherwise this would really have been like a solo fishing trip and attempt that calls for plenty of patience for something to finally bite.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ewan McGregor had to learn how to fly fish for his role as Dr. Alfred "Fred" Jones.
    • Goofs
      There are a couple scenes where Ewan McGregor goes to his koi pond and feeds them bits of bread. Koi eat vegetation, algae and small fish/crustaceans. But never bread. It holds no nutrition for them. As a Dr. specializing in fish, bread is the last thing he would feed them.
    • Quotes

      Dr. Alfred Jones: I don't know anyone that goes to church anymore.

      Harriet: I don't think I do.

      Dr. Alfred Jones: On Sundays we go to Tesco's.

    • Alternate versions
      For the American theatrical release, references to the supermarket chain Tesco were dubbed over and replaced with Target.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.101 (2012)
    • Soundtracks
      Mairi's Wedding
      Mairi's Wedding (Lewis Bridal Song) (c) 1937 by Hugh S. Roberton

      Used by permission of Roberton Publications, a part of Goodmusic Publishing Ltd

      Arranged by Jim Sutherland

      Mike Kearney - Vocals

      Austen George - Guitar, vocals

      Claire Nelson - Banjo, vocals

      Jim Sutherland - bass and percussion

      Master Owner: Courtesy of Yemen Productions

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    FAQ20

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    • Is this film based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 20, 2012 (United Kingdom)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official Facebook
    • Languages
      • English
      • Arabic
      • Mandarin
    • Also known as
      • Câu Cá Hồi Ở Yemen
    • Filming locations
      • Ouarzazate, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco
    • Production companies
      • UK Film Council
      • BBC Film
      • CBS Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $9,047,981
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $225,894
      • Mar 11, 2012
    • Gross worldwide
      • $34,564,651
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 47 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • Datasat
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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