When things get tricky in my life, I talk to my fish.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

(2011)

A witty first half makes the most of playing on the absurd premise of Paul Torday’s novel, and like pretty much everything from Lasse Hallstrom this is terribly, terribly good-natured.

Unfortunately the film becomes more and more schematic as it progresses, at its most bereft of inspiration with a sub-plot concerning an assassination attempt on Sheikh Muhammed.

The measures taken to keep Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt apart until the end are also incredibly obvious. Fortunately, they have great chemistry. McGregor, in particular, is immensely likeable; perhaps it's because he's using his native accent, but he reminded me of the McGregor who showed so much promise in his early work with Danny Boyle.

Amr Waked makes an impression with a charismatic turn as the Sheikh, it's a shame some of the plotting surrounding him frequently fails. And if it all turns out very sugary, well this is the director Chocolat.

***

Comments

Mondo bizarro. No offence man, but you’re in way over your head.

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You have done well to keep so much hair, when so many’s after it.

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You’re a disgrace, sir... Weren’t you at Harrow?

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I tell you, it saw me! The hanged man’s asphyx saw me!

The Asphyx (1972) (SPOILERS) There was such a welter of British horror from the mid 60s to mid 70s, even leaving aside the Hammers and Amicuses, that it’s easy to lose track of them in the shuffle. This one, the sole directorial effort of Peter Newbrook (a cameraman for David Lean, then a cinematographer), has a strong premise and a decent cast, but it stumbles somewhat when it comes to taking that premise any place interesting. On the plus side, it largely eschews the grue. On the minus, directing clearly wasn’t Newbrook’s forte, and even aided by industry stalwart cinematographer Freddie Young (also a go-to for Lean), The Aspyhx is stylistically rather flat.

A ship is the finest nursery in the world.

A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) (SPOILERS) An odd one, this, as if Disney were remaking The Swiss Family Robinson for adults. One might perhaps have imagined the Mouse House producing it during their “Dark Disney” phase. But even then, toned down. After all, kids kidnapped by pirates sounds like an evergreen premise for boy’s own adventuring (more girl’s own here). The reality of Alexander Mackendrick’s film is decidedly antithetical to that; there’s a lingering feeling, despite A High Wind in Jamaica ’s pirates largely observing their distance, that things could turn rather nasty (and indeed, if Richard Hughes’ 1929 novel had been followed to the letter, they would have more explicitly).

The best thing in the world for the inside of a man or a woman is the outside of a horse.

Marnie (1964) (SPOILERS) Hitch in a creative ditch. If you’ve read my Vertigo review, you’ll know I admired rather than really liked the picture many fete as his greatest work. Marnie is, in many ways, a redux, in the way De Palma kept repeating himself in the early 80s only significantly less delirious and… well, compelling. While Marnie succeeds in commanding the attention fitfully, it’s usually for the wrong reasons. And Hitch, digging his heels in as he strives to fashion a star against public disinterest – he failed to persuade Grace Kelly out of retirement for Marnie Rutland – comes entirely adrift with his leads.

My Doggett would have called that crazy.

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Isn’t it true, it’s easier to be a holy man on the top of a mountain?

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Just wait. They’ll start listing side effects like the credits at the end of a movie.

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