Mixed Reviews: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Based on the 2006 novel by Paul Torday, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a British romantic comedy starring Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt.

McGregor’s character is a fisheries expert and Blunt’s is a consultant, working on behalf of a Sheikh whose dream is to – you guessed it – bring salmon fishing to the Yemen.

Rotten Tomatoes describes the characters as “an unlikely team [who] will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.”

So far the reviews are mixed. Out of 69 ratings, 44 are positive – giving the film an overall rating of 6.2/10. And the experts had a lot to say…

Scott Bowles of USA Today said:

“Despite sporting the worst cinematic title since The Chumscrubber, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen hooks some charming laughs and a quaint romance by not delving too deeply into its subject matter.”

Mary F. Pols of Time Magazine said:

“Salmon Fishing was a novel first and you can see how all these juggled balls could stay in the air on the page, but in movie form, many of them just seem extraneous.”

Ann Horday of the Washington Post said:

“Somehow managing to be both twee and edgy, the absurdist but gently winning romantic comedy Salmon Fishing in the Yemen works a strange kind of wonder.”

John Anderson of Newsday said:

“While both Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor are enormously appealing actors, Hallstrom has made a movie that pretends it is something it's not -- namely, an intelligent romantic comedy.”


It will be released in Australia on 5 April 2012.