Obi-Wan notwithstanding, I wouldn't have predicted an overlap in the worlds of Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness. But this winning British movie, in which rumpled fisheries expert Fred (McGregor) and sleek exec Harriet (Emily Blunt) help realize the dream project of a sheik, brings to mind the classic Ealing comedies that starred Guinness. Harriet's Yemeni client, who's both an Anglophile and an angler, wants to build a salmon run.
>> INTERVIEW: Emily Blunt is hooked on Salmon Fishing <<
Harriet's resourcefulness wears down Fred's skepticism; as the two overcome obstacles in the effort to transport 10,000 salmon from the UK to Yemen, they metaphorically swim upstream in their personal lives, arriving at a place where they can act on their feelings for each other. Goosing the action is a government flack (Kristin Scott Thomas) hungry for "Arab news that doesn't involve things exploding." The science — and the politics — may be dodgy, but director Lasse Hallström crafts a witty, richly textured modern fairy tale that's an irresistible lure.
