Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

I will give it three feeble stars, but the project needed a different approach and a different director. The subject matter directly called for a satire and ironic comedy genre, but Lasse Hallström is by nature a poet and romantic, so despite his undeniable directorial qualities, it ultimately feels barren. The solid cast is also not properly utilized due to the problematic screenplay. Overall impression: 50%. (01/05/2022)

I’ve recently seen a similarly goofy movie, though a little less well-known than this one. It was called Flicker. Like Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, it was absurd and it was very nice to look at. In the same way, however, I couldn’t get over the absurdity and somehow couldn’t get rid of the impression that even though the idea is pleasant, the execution is very nice and the actors play brilliantly, I’ll probably never watch this film again and it won’t bother me at all. (27/07/2013)

Fewer minutes, less of the rich, kind sheik, less “lemonade" during the salmon finale, but on the other hand greater portions of the perfect bureaucratic satire (and why not just a straight comedy à la Yes, (Prime) Minister for the Kristin Scott Thomas/Conleth Hill) duo... That would have helped Hallström from falling into the “pleasant, but utterly humdrum" category. P.S.: McGregor is wrongly type-cast in his role; does anybody (women) find his boring, hen-pecked, dry pen-pusher act convincing? It’s like having Halle Berry play Precious. (05/05/2012)

If the film had ended like the book in which some of the characters don't survive and the romantic line turns out completely differently, I wouldn't have hesitated to give it a fifth star. Still, I enjoyed watching Salmon Fishing in the Yemen very much, thanks mainly to the excellent cast - the likeable Ewan McGregor, the beautiful Emily Blunt, the hellishly funny Kristin Scott Thomas as Humphrey Appleby in skirts (incidentally, this character is quite a slimy man in the prequel) and the exemplary pleasant mood. (08/03/2015)

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen has both screenplay and actors to support it. McGregor is right on the border between nice guy and eccentric jerk and he and Blunt work nicely together. The A-grade cutting British humor and the absurdity of the whole idea becomes much more serious towards the end. Hallström serves us on a silver platter not just salmon, but also one of the most pleasant romantic comedies of the past few years. (12/03/2017)