Review No.123: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

After I started the week with Hunky Dory it seems to be a continuing theme of gentle films as next up is the romcom come political satire Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. The film is based on a popular novel by Paul Torday and stars Ewan McGregor as Fred Jones the government's salmon fishing expert who is asked by Emily Blunt's Harriet Chetwode-Talbot to help introduce some of his favourite fish into the waters of the Yemen so that the sheikh she represents can fish for them. The tightly-wound Fred blasts the idea believing salmon wouldn't thrive in the warm waters of the Yemen however when the Prime Minister's press secretary Patricia Maxwell, played by the brilliant Kristen Scott Thomas, picks up on the project she wants it to go ahead in order to promote Anglo-Arab relations. After meeting Sheikh Muhammed, Fred's opinions change meanwhile he gets closer to Harriet whose boyfriend Robert is lost in action in Afghanistan while his own relationship with his wife Mary is fractured after she goes on business in Geneva. The Yemen project faces its share of problems namely getting salmon from British waters and transporting them out of the country as well as militants against the Sheik trying to sabotage the endeavour. Overall though the project brings the best out in everyone with Fred loosening up, Harriet forgetting about Robert and Patricia able to get her picture perfect moment.

Though I've never read the book that Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was based on I can tell that certain parts of it have been watered down, if you'll pardon the pun, in order to present a crowd-pleasing romantic comedy. For me, charming as they both are, I never felt that Blunt and McGregor really had enough chemistry to be a central couple even though they're fairly well suited to their individual performances. I do like when Ewan McGregor does a role where he has to hold something back and here as Dr Fred Jones he portrays a man whose life is stuck in a rut and he needs someone to rescue him from it meanwhile Blunt is perfect as the charming PR woman who can easily hold her own in a man's world brimming with both confidence as well as vulnerability when the moment comes for it. For me though the film was at its best when dealing with the political elements in particular Kristen Scott Thomas' Mrs Maxwell who stole the film as a man-eating female Alistair Campbell figure who wasn't afraid to stand up to her superiors while simultaneously bonding with her son over a violent video game. The scenes in which she is sparring with the foreign minister or conspiring with the PM via webchat are much more entertaining than those in which Fred realises he is in love with Harriet. Ultimately there's not enough bite and too much cheese in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen to make it a very memorable film still it's amiable enough, thanks in part to its exotic locations and its top notch cast, still I would've preferred something more substancial than this very light romantic drama.

Verdict: Too much romantic dithering coupled with emotional heartfelt speeches meant that Salmon Fishing in the Yemen really dragged at times thankfully the reliable Kristen Scott Thomas added some much-needed bite to the film while the charming lead performances means that it gets a very generous 6/10

Review No.115: The Five Year Engagement

I was woken up today with the sad news that writer-director Nora Ephron, most known for her role working on romantic comedies, had passed away only a day after I'd watched the best romcom in a good while. That film was The Five Year Engagement which is written by Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segal, who most recently worked on the script for The Muppets together, with the latter starring alongside Emily Blunt as a couple who have to postpone their wedding. The film starts with Segal's chef Tom trying to arrange a romantic way to propose to Blunt's Violet however she works out something's going on before he has a chance to do it eventually she makes him go through with his elaborate plan before agreeing to it. After an awkward engagement party Violet's sister Suzie, played by Community's Alison Brie who pulls off a very convincing English accent, and Tom's fellow chef Alex get together before having baby and eventually getting married essentially stealing the thunder of Violent and Tom. The next setback is when Violet is asked to take up a post-grad position at Michigan University after a discussion with Tom they agree to move however he fails to tell her that he was offered a head chef job at his boss' new restaurant. While Violet thrives in her new position it is Tom who struggles to find work eventually working at a deli making sandwiches and basically filling up his days waiting for his fiancée to come home. Tom becomes unhappy in Michigan which means that Violet has to confide in her professor, played by a suitably slimy Rhys Ifans, but will she give into temptation and risk wasting the engagement that has been going on so long?

Something else that goes on far too long is this film, at just over two hours The Five Year Engagement suffers from too many similar scenes as Tom struggles to adjust to his Michigan lifestyle. I think at least fifteen to twenty minutes could've been trimmed either from these scenes or some of the latter parts of the film building up to the inevitable conclusion. The other element of the film I wasn't too keen on one was the fact that the problems in Violet and Tom's relationship arise from a stale doughnut but I won't go into that as I'm expecting most of you haven't seen the film. I don't think the Michigan tourist board will be too happy with this film as their state is presented as a complete hole in which there is nothing to do, there are no job opportunities for culinary-minded chefs and the only place of note is the university but I suppose at the end of the day the film's setting is where most of the jokes are found. Thankfully the film has more negatives than positives mainly due to the brilliant chemistry between real-life friends Blunt and Segal who seem like a believable couple from their first meeting at a new year's party through to their ups and downs depicted in the film. Blunt is perfectly charming a great counter-balance to Segal's usual goofy routine which here is completely endearing. Segal and Stoller's script is also full of laughs throughout with my favourite moment being Alex's song about Tom's former conquests set to the tune of 'We Didn't Start the Fire' as well as a rather uncomfortable version of 'The Birdy Song' danced after a shocking revelation. Ifans is also brilliant as the smarmy professor who tries to entice Violet throughout her time at the university while these scenes are also spiced up by her post-grad colleagues who all have increasingly bizarre ideas about what would work best as a test experiment. Overall this reminded me of Segal and Stoller's earlier film Forgetting Sarah Marshall as both are peppered with decent jokes but suffer from being overlong and having a bad narrative structure. That being said I definitely enjoyed The Five Year Engagement more as it had bigger laughs, more chemistry between the central couple and most crucially of all no Russell Brand. So it's a very sad RIP to Nora Ephron and while The Five Year Engagement may not be on the same level as When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle but I think she'd be glad to know that even after she's gone the genre she created is still going strong.

Verdict: A charming and funny romcom that boasts plenty of jokes plus an easy chemistry between the leads is let down by being overlong as well as becoming repetitive in its final third so for those reasons it gets a very high 7/10