Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Ewan McGregor's movie's are not known for being edgy or thought-provoking. They are more pure entertainment. That's what I expected to see in "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen". Unfortunately for Ewan and the movie, somebody pulled the plug on the writing just beyond the halfway point in the movie. The first twenty minutes had some clever romantic comedic moments. But somebody decided they had to make a jingoistic statement by throwing in an unlikely muslim assassin attempting a low percentage shot and being foiled by an even lower percentage fishing cast. Emily Blunt is her lovely ingenue self, but is given nothing to stretch any acting talent she may have. But I should say some upbeat things about this movie I really wanted to like. You cannot fault Lasse Halstrom's direction and choice of locations. I do not fish, but he made me want to go to Scotland to, at least, walk along side of the stream. Sadly, instability in the real Yemen made filming there, impossible. Morocco stepped in for those locations. Let me just say, forget the plot. Go to watch Ewan and Emily. Go for Lasse's direction. And yes, see it in a theatre and save your iPad for lesser movies.