Guy SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN is a throw-back to the bonkers-concepts Ealing films of the 1950s, with its story of a British government sponsored attempt to introduce fishing to the Yemen (not an obvious or easy choice). The pitch is that HMG wants some good Middle Eastern news for once - cue clichéd Western bleat about how we accidentally bombed some foreigners - so they get a hot civil servant, who doesn't seem to do any actual work, to team up with the cranky Scottish fishing expert - a typically bland Ewan McGregor - in order to make it work. Fair credit to the writer for turning a novel largely comprised of clippings from emails, diaries and letters into a comprehensible story but the problem is that it's kinda dull. The romance is predictable and passionless, the commentary on current affairs non-existent and the message is of the nice-but-naive lets-all-get-along sort. None of this is helped by rather flat direction. It's nice and undemanding in a Sunday teatime sort of way but feels like a missed chance for something funnier, more charming or incisive.

badajoz-1 This movie is not meant to be realistic - hence pay no attention to the liberal PC naysayers ringing their hands about poor Yemen and incorrect dialect. Just believe me this film is dull, tedious, and totally derivative. It is meant to be a gentle, wistful comedy/drama about some not very realistic subject. The sort of thing Will Hay and Alec Guinness did for Ealing Studios in the 40s and 50s, and Bill McKenna did for Rank in the late 50s. So a rich Sheikh asks a doubting Euan MacGregor to build a salmon fishing river in the mountains of Yemen with the help of Emily Blunt as PR Manager. Both are attached, but the main thrust of the plot is will they get together. Something you lose interest about halfway through! A huge subplot is the involvement of UK government through foul-mouthed Kristin Scott Thomas playing the PM's Press Secretary looking for a good news story. This is now so hackneyed and predictable that it just grates dreadfully. The script is poorish, full of plot holes ( who built the dam and when?), the direction slow and often lazy, and the acting sluggish and rather disinterested. The only shining light is Rachael Stirling playing MacGregor's wife, who acts everybody else off the screen in a short cameo. Boring in the extreme - it totally fails to draw you in to its idiosyncrasies.

phoenix 2 At first, Dr Jones can't believe how the project of creating a river in Yemen and load it with salmon in order of the Sheikh Muhammed to exercises his love of fishing, is even possible. But after the insistence of his representative, Harriet, and the involvement of the British government, Dr Jones will eventually take over the project, which will change his life.The film is a story about fish (a), love (b) marriage (c) human relations (d) and more. And even though the fishing and the knowing of the new civilization occupy the fist part of the film, love takes over the rest of it. However, there was something I didn't like about it. The ending wasn't really good. Not because of Harriet's choice, but more because of the rush that overtook it. The comical parts of the plot, the ones with the Ms Maxwell, weren't that good and they confused me a little and so I found them unnecessary. Other than that, the movie is nice enough to watch once or twice (can't see myself watching it more than that) but it's not a film that you can expect much from it.So 4 out of 10.

juneebuggy This was very good, it's a BBC production(very British) the kind of movie your Mum would like. Ewan McGregor plays a nerdy, awkward scientist type going through a bit of midlife crisis. Through a series of events he agrees to help a Sheikh fulfil his lifelong dream of bringing sport-fishing to the deserts of Yemen and along the way he also falls for a woman hired to be part of the project.This is a quirky, funny, very British and kinda moving movie. I can't fault it on any level except maybe for Ewan's characters name (Mr. Jones) by which he is referred to constantly, and every single time he is I thought of Indiana Jones (but that's just me). Anyways, Kristin Scott Thomas gave me big laughs however her character is quite the bitch. McGregor and Emily Blunt are great, the Sheikh is hot. 6/8/14