Film: Salmon Fishing In The Yemen (12A)

Director: Lasse Hallström

The Yemen. Not a place known for its fresh streams, jumping fish and brisk breezes as you stand up to your waist in freezing water, waders keeping you dry but cold as you cast your rod out far looking for those fat fish. Yeah. More of a desert place, really.

Such is the predicament put to civil servant Ewan McGregor. Unassuming but with a massive task dropped on him from a great height, this young man is unwillingly coerced into a scheme to introduce salmon fishing to the parched land to make a fishing-mad sheik’s dream come true and improve relations between Britain and The Yemen. Hercules would be proud to call this an undertaking.

Clearly the metaphor in this gentle comedy of swimming fiercely upstream against the current works for both the fish and the tightly bound bureaucrat, and with a splendid supporting cast including Emily Blunt (turning up in a lot of good flicks these days), Kristin Scott Thomas and Amr Waked, this promises to be a sweet story of personal growth and overcoming the odds.

Released Fri 20 April
Showing at Odeon and Cineworld