It’s difficult to know what to make of “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen“. When I asked some people about it, reaction was all over the map. One person said it was a horrible movie, while another said that its “a mixture of boredom and wisdom”; many others echoed their sentiments. I fall somewhere in between those two extremes. First with the good news: Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt are both fun to watch as fisheries expert and PR consultant who want to help billionaire Sheikh Muhammad bring fly fishing to the desert. The bad news is: that’s pretty much it. There are a few subplots, but they veer from predictable to ridiculous, especially the one featuring Kristin Scott Thomas as a bossy spokeswoman. The movie starts out promisingly well, and even gets philosophical at some point (keep an eye on a conversation about “faith” between the atheist scientist McGregor and devout sheikh), but winds up getting rather silly, especially towards the end. The best thing about it however is the certainty that if you don’t like the story, you will definitely enjoy the beautiful locations.  But even so, a movie this long needs more than eye candy to hold an audience’s attention. That’s why it was hard for me to fully appreciate it. The actors do their best to make awkward scenes and dialogue ring true, but at the end, it falls flat. I can’t ignore, or dismiss the sheer originality of “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”, from its peculiar title to its peculiar premise. But I wish I felt something more. Too bad.

Rating: 2/4