Film Clip: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

A British fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is approached by a P.R. consultant (Emily Blunt) to help a Yemeni sheikh (Amr Waked) realize his dream of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to his homeland. Writer Simon Beaufoy and director Lasse Hallström turn Paul Torday’s novel into a thoroughgoing delight. McGregor and Blunt make an engaging team—they’ve always been able to bring out the best in their co-stars, and here they bring out the best in each other. Waked plays the sheikh with just the right blend of exotic dignity and friendly warmth, and Kristin Scott Thomas has wicked fun as the no-nonsense press secretary to the prime minister, giving the movie an edge of political satire that nicely balances the sheikh’s visionary mysticism and the blossoming romance between Blunt and McGregor’s characters.