Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Trailer: Eating, Praying, and Loving Upstream

I don't know if you can tell by its freakishly quirky title, but Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is freakishly quirky. Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and a suddenly super-droll Kristen Scott Thomas star in what appears to be a Middle Eastern-set romcom with kooky supporting characters. There's also a chance that it's an Eat, Pray, Love for downtrodden white men, which would be despicable. You figure it out.

Three things I'm sick of:

1) Ukuleles.

2) Ewan McGregor spending 2011 sauntering around like every movie is a Pepcid AC commercial.

3) That is all.

At any rate, hooray for Kristen Scott Thomas, who seems intriguing in what could be a desperately nutty role. Emily Blunt is given little to do again, which reiterates her work in The Adjustment Bureau. And I guess I've already torn down Ewan McGregor. I can just guess his full arc here, and it's not a thrilling one. Though it is fun to say "Ewan" and "Yemen" in an Uma/Oprah-style rally.

However, I'm inspired by director's Lasse Hallström whimsy -- this is the guy who, in addition to directing The Cider House Rules, spent the 1970s directing every ABBA video under the sun. That's a man who knows the power of sea-green jumpsuits and beige lipstick. We need him. And therefore, we need this not to suck. Here's hoping self-aware, but un-obnoxious fun is "The Name of the Game."

Verdict: Slightly baiting.

• 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen' Trailer [Yahoo!]