Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

The Middle Eastern country of Yemen might conjure several images for the average person, none of them having anything to do with salmon fishing.

That geographical oddity forms the basis for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, an uneven comedy that won’t do much to change global perceptions or bolster diplomatic relations.

Those aren’t the goals of this quirky effort from acclaimed director Lasse Hallstrom (The Cider House Rules) that takes a lighthearted approach to a serious political subject.

Ewan McGregor stars as Alfred, a British fisheries expert contacted by Harriet (Emily Blunt), a consultant for the British government, to help with the strangest of requests. A wealthy Yemeni sheik (Amr Waked) would like to bring the sport of fly fishing to his arid homeland, and needs some help with stocking and sustaining the fish supply.

Alfred reluctantly and skeptically lends his expertise, venturing into the desert to try to figure out a way to turn the sheik’s outrageous dream into a reality while simultaneously giving the government a hokey story that can generate some international goodwill.

While it lacks much satirical edge, part of the appeal in the script by Oscar-winner Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire), which is based on a novel by Paul Torday, is the bittersweet eccentricity of its against-the-odds plot. The film strains credibility to be sure, but also showcases a different side of Yemen – both physically and culturally – than many folks have seen before.

However, it falls apart when it bogs down in human melodrama, including a forced romantic subplot, that stalls the narrative momentum. McGregor and Blunt have an awkward chemistry, although the versatile Kristin Scott Thomas offers some welcome comic relief as the spin-happy press aide to the British Prime Minister.

Hallstrom’s direction is stylish and visually assured as always (save for some distracting editing gimmicks near the beginning that push the pace), but he indulges in sentimentality instead of emphasizing the quirks that could have made the film more appealing.

Salmon Fishing is most compelling when it’s focused on the sheik’s project and its obvious complications, but the predictably feel-good story arc too often leaves the film swimming upstream.

Rated PG-13, 111 minutes.