So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 58 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 OK for kids 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 80
    NPR | Ella Taylor

    The crisply sweet banter and the halting intimacy that grows between two shy people with a common goal more than makes up for a wildly implausible plot. Read full review

  • 75
    Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea

    If all this sounds like too much whimsy to bear, be forwarned. There is whimsy everywhere. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Amy Biancolli

    The film's emotional complexities don't allow for much of the canned sentiment that normally gets dished out in romantic dramas; what emerges instead, over several reels, is endearingly tender and complicated. Read full review

  • 75
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    This is a rich subject for satire and sticking it to political bureaucracy. Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) has mined Paul Torday's book for delicious nuggets about Western capitalism at war with Muslim culture. Read full review

  • 75
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    You can have a reasonably nice time at Salmon Fishing in the Yemen if you accept that it's the tidiest movie imaginable to ever say that falling in love is like swimming upstream. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Scott Bowles

    The side story about Muslim extremists is a little ham-handed for a film that otherwise exercises such restraint. Read full review

  • 70
    Movieline | Michelle Orange

    When the recessive style works with the characters and the kooky international-incident story, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen has an absorbing, old-fashioned sweetness. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    It's all been called Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, just like Paul Torday's 2007 novel, and, except for some despicable behavior in the later going, it couldn't be more harmless. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    The movie has a hard time wrapping up its love story without feeling forced, however game the cast. Viewers won't be able to say they weren't given what they came for, but they might feel unsatisfied all the same. Read full review

  • 40
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    The cast gives it all a good go, and pip-pip and all that for noticeable intelligence and a bit of the old British satire. Yet Salmon Fishing takes patience and rewards with no bite. Read full review


Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 13+ Quirky romance mixes politics, charm; fine for teens.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a quirky romance with a mish-mash of themes that includes love, international relations, faith, war, marital infidelity, and fishing. Overall the movie has a genteel feel, and though there's some salty language (including "ass," "bastard, and one use of "f--k"), it's not excessive. Expect some kissing and a couple of love scenes that imply sex, though there's no graphic nudity. There's also some social drinking and smoking, and use of a gun by an attempted assassin.
  • Families can talk about Salmon Fishing in the Yemen's messages. What do you think it wants audiences to take away from watching? Does all entertainment need to have a message?
  • What makes Harriet's and Fred's romance different or similar to that of other movie couples? Did either of them do anything wrong? Why did they hesitate?
The good stuff
  • message true3 Positive messages: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen's messages are about the importance of peace, patience, tolerance, humility, and faith.
  • rolemodels true3 Positive role models: Alfred and Harriet are as different, in both personality and disposition, as two people can be. But in working toward a common goal, they discover much to appreciate in each other. They're both clear about not wanting to be hurtful of others and are quite respectful of their complicated individual situations.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence: An assassin attempts to kill one of the characters with a gun; later, a dam is destroyed.
  • sex false2 Sexy stuff: A woman takes off her pants and joins her boyfriend in bed (they're mostly shown cuddling). Earlier, they're seen kissing. Another couple is shown just finishing having sex (no nudity).
  • language false3 Language: "F--k" is shown typed on a computer, with asterisks in place of most of the letters; later, a mother says the word while speaking to her teenage son. Also occasional use of words including "bloody hell," "bastard," "ass," "damn," "oh my God, " "goddamn," and "bollocks."
  • consumerism false1 Consumerism: Mention of Target and the names of a few fishing magazines.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false2 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Some social drinking. One character smokes cigarettes.

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