A fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) attempts to help a Yemeni sheikh (Amr Waked) with the expensive and improbable task of introducing salmon to the Yemen desert. He’s assisted by the sheikh’s financial adviser (Emily Blunt), whose soldier boyfriend has just gone missing in action. Romance ensues. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s press secretary is keen to exploit the situation for its publicity value.
It’s an odd film. Some of the awkwardness is presumably deliberate because it’s suggested that McGregor’s character has Asperger syndrome, although that’s never really explored. Everything remains thin and surface-level.
Blunt is her usual charming self, seemingly able to do this stuff in her sleep. McGregor exhibits more versatility than usual. The sheik is saintly and one-dimensional. And Kristin Scott Thomas’s brash, pushy character, presumably designed for comic relief, is just annoying.
Overall, it doesn’t really work. The unlikely love story is nice enough but otherwise it’s just a bit weak all round.
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