Several days ago She Who Must Be Obeyed and I ran up to Seattle to catch Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, take in the sights and act basically act like a pair of country bumpkins on their go-to-town day.
There’s been a whisper now and again in the fly fishing world about the show and while I / we generally despise reading and writing ‘reviews’ of movies (we find that our tastes correlate very poorly with the big name critics and reviewers out there), with a bit of prodding I’ve been encouraged to share a few thoughts about Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
That said, here’s a fly fishers’ quasi-review of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen; no plot spoilers or reveals included.
Three things Salmon Fishing in the Yemen isn’t.
- It’s not a fly fishing movie. Those who months ago projected this would be another ‘movie’ to stir the masses’ interest in fly fishing as happened twenty something years ago – you couldn’t be more wrong. It’s much more a fishy themed rom-com.
- It’s certainly not a casting clinic. As intriguing as the plot lines have been in other fly fishing movies of the past (and I’m thinking of ‘the movie’ here) how many times did you hear or read about how Brad Pitt couldn’t cast worth crap. While there is a scene centered around a truly phenomenal cast in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, casting critics will most likely find the fishing scenes painful.
- It’s not a teaser for as of yet undiscovered secret Yemeni fly fishing locales. Not to say that there might yet be some……
Four things Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is.
- It’s very well crafted. From the book (which we picked up after the show and are reading now) to the direction, cinematography and editing, this is a very, very well told story. The scenes shot in Scotland were particularly well done and made wish I’d bought that kilt on sale when I had a chance a few years ago.
- It’s very well acted. Granted SWMBO and I are consummate fans of fast-paced, acerbic British humor and the movie provides a heaping helping of it. Ewan McGregor plays the role of a pedantic, nerdy, socially constipated fisheries biologist with aplomb; you know somebody who lives a constrained life just as his character does. Emily Blount is a delight as well; the supporting cast, particularly Amr Waked as the Yemeni Sheikh and Kristen Scott Thomas as the government public relations bitch are wonderful.
- It’s a date movie. Hey, even fishers need to stoke the home fires now and again.
- It’s about fish and fisheries much more than fishing. See below.
Three things fly fishers will likely resonate with in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
- This is a movie about fish and fisheries. With Salmon swimming prominently in many a fly fisher’s eclectic consciousness these days, the hand-wringing and debate over the fish and the donor and recipient fisheries is critically believable and adds depth to the story. People world wide are damned passionate about their salmon – as they should be.
- This movie, as is fly fishing, is about confronting a startling improbability and striving to make it a reality. Salmon fishers and steelheaders in particular model the very essence of improbability each time they step into a run to swing flies for the day. Frankly anyone who ties on a mass of feathers and fur and casts to any fish is confronting startling improbability square on. Fly fishers may not understand the secrets of the universe, but we understand this one.
- Finally, this is a movie about belief; the characters themselves use the word faith quite a bit as the story progresses. The fisheries biologist believes in science and facts, the sponsoring sheikh in the power of water (and a fishery) to transform his national economy and people, Emily Blunt’s character in the power of possibilities. It’s even as simply portrayed as belief that swinging a fly through the right run at the right time will produce fish; that’s something any fly fisher can sink their teeth into.
All in all, worth your time and your nickel. And do take a date……
