Haywire explodes onto DVD

Gina Carano in Haywire

Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire explodes onto DVD today starring MMA star Gina Carano alongside a heavy weight cast that includes Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas and Channing Tatum.

Carano is a super soldier black ops agent hired through Ewan McGregor’s private company to extract a dissident for the US Government. All appears to go well, till her next job sees her running for her life and so she embarks on a revenge mission against those who would see her dead.

This is a decidedly ‘no frills’ affair with none of the action effects that normally litter standard Hollywood action fodder. The fights are short, brutal and yes, totally realistic, but what lets the film down is a horrendous soundtrack and a rather stilted script.

Channing Tatum underestimates Gina Carano

The ‘arthouse’ slant runs throughout the film with long one shot scenes most taken from very interesting angles. Some work, some do not. At times though it feels like a rather expensive student film, at others, like a cheap indie, but only rarely does it shine. And that is when someone has thankfully killed the music. The 1970’s pseudo jazz soundtrack that drowns every chase scene reminds me of a Gene Hackman movie from that era. It clashes incessantly with the action, killing the pace and at times rendering the dialogue obsolete.

There is nothing new in this film. Agent on the run from her own people is simply a variation of a theme we have all seen before and nothing much here adds to the genre. The whole film is primarily seen in flashback as Gina Carano completely out of character, reveals the story to a total stranger whose car she has stolen. Belatedly she worries if he’ll be all right (having just been told secrets that, let’s face it, he really shouldn’t know), but the whole sequence is just a means of showing her drive fast in reverse through a forest and kill a deer.

Soderbergh’s new movie is out this summer – Magic Mike. Channing Tatum is back, this time with very little on as he plays a male stripper luring Alex Pettyfer into the business.

Ewan McGregor on his choice of accent for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Ewan McGregor (Fred Jones) & Amr Waked (Sheikh) in Salmon Fishing in Yemen

Based on Paul Torday’s book, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is the story of a rather overweight middle aged man who finds a new lease of life in Yemen. Scot Ewan McGregor was, therefore, an odd choice for the lead. However, with a little help from a rather frigid Morningside accent (Edinburgh), McGregor manages to give his character, Fred just the right amount of uptightness to carry off the role.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a tough sell, nevertheless, but don’t let the title put you off. The theme of the film is of making possible the impossible, and apart from the Salmon, this is also a love story between a fish mad civil servant, a dashing soldier and a rather attractive PR lady (Emily Blunt).

With superb performances all round, especially from Egyptian actor, Amr Waked, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is well worth watching.

Salmon Fishing in Yemen

Ewan McGregor (Fred Jones) & Amr Waked (Sheikh) in Salmon Fishing in Yemen

Starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked and Kristin Scott Thomas, Salmon Fishing in Yemen is the latest novel adaptation to make it to the big screen.

Fred (Ewan McGregor) is civil servant working in fisheries, who finds himself at the helm of an ambitious project – to bring thousands of Salmon to a newly created river in Yemen. This is all part of a great scheme conceived by Sheikh Muhummad (Amr Waked) and soon Fred discovers how miserable his life has been and how dynamic it could be; especially with the beautiful Harriet (Emily Blunt).

There are some great performances; McGregor finally feeling comfortable in more middle-aged role, Amr Waked as the very likeable Sheikh Muhammed and Kristin Scott Thomas relishing a true panto evil queen role. And there are great moments, most for me involving the said Kristin Scott Thomas, whose fag smoking political spinner has not just the PM under her thumb, but just about everyone else as well.

Kristin Scott Thomas in Salmon Fishing in Yemen

The incredibly funny Kristin Scott Thomas

Director Lasse Hallstrom does perhaps over do the ‘salmon running’ imagery, but I did love his integration of multi media images such as Google Earth and the superbly ironic instant messages between Scott Thomas and the PM.

As a feel good movie, Salmon Fishing in Yemen delivers, but I can’t help feeling that the love story between Blunt and McGregor almost gets in the way of everything else. There is a undercurrent of political satire running throughout the film from the impact of change in the Yemen to the disaster of Government in the UK, but all this seems to get washed away with the rather surprising romance between cold fish McGregor and even colder fish Blunt.