Plenty of contestants, many of whom will "roar [their] way to the top." Shouting. Back-stabbing. A huge prize is at stake but there can only be one winner. No, I'm not talking about the new series of The Apprentice, but Gary Ross's new film adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins's hugely popular Hunger Games trilogy. The Hunger Games is, in part, a biting satire on our reality-TV-obsessed society (not dissimilar to Fifteen Million Merits, the second part of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror mini-series), but with a huge dollop of bleak, dystopian futurism--oh, and a healthy serving of courageous young female protagonist. Yes, with hindsight, it's easy to see the appeal of The Hunger Games.
In the not-too-distant future, Panem (formerly known as the US of A) consists of 12 districts, each known for its own special expertise, ruled over by the Capitol. As a punishment for an attempted rebellion, each year every district must offer up two "tributes" (young people, a boy and a girl aged between 12 and 18) to take part in the Hunger Games, a Battle Royale-style contest in which the contestants are placed in an arena filled with dangers and are then forced to fight one another to the death, until one victor remains. The people of the Capitol, with their mad-coloured hair and skin and crazy fashion sense (Princess Beatrice-inspired hats, and so on) watch the the footage, place bets on their favourite contestants and can even "sponsor" them, sending life-saving food or medicine into the arena.
The contestants are chosen by random ballot but young people can also opt for a tessera, which means an extra entry in the ballot in exchange for more food for their family. The movie opens on the eve of the 74th Hunger Games and Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her best friend Gale (Liam Hemsworth), who live in District 12, in which the main industry is coal mining. The district is one of the poorest but Katniss and Gale are great hunters and manage to (illegally) hunt enough food to feed their families after the death of their fathers. They think about running away but Katniss worries about what would happen to her younger sister Primrose (Willow Shields). It is the first year that Prim will be entered in the ballot but Katniss has worked hard to ensure her sister has never had to take a tessera and she assures Prim that they will be fine. But Primrose's name is, of course, drawn out, and Katniss volunteers to take her place--the first ever volunteer from District 12. The male tribute is Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), a baker's son.
Katniss barely has time to say goodbye to Gale, her mother (who has been suffering from severe PTSD after the death of her husband and who isn't any help in keeping the family together) and Prim (who hands her a "lucky" mockingjay pin) before she is whisked onto a train with Peeta, their chaperone Effie Trinket (a nearly unrecognisable Elizabeth Banks) and their mentor Haymitch (Woody Harrelson), the only living victor from District 12. For a girl who grew up without hot water or electricity, the super-fancy high-speed train is fascinating for Katniss, who is starting to fully understand the implications of her decision. Effie is a representative of the Capitol and has ulterior motives, Haymitch is usually drunk and how can she trust her fellow tribute Peeta when they are rivals, even if he did give her bread once when she was starving? And as she learns about the "career" tributes in Districts 1 and 2, who train all of their lives for the "honour" of representing their district in the Hunger Games, she wonders how she can ever compete.
But with a bow in her arms, she is Artemis, and after growing annoyed when the game makers, led by Wes Bentley's Seneca Crane, ignore her during her "audition" in favour of a hog roast, she soon gains their attention by shooting an arrow straight into the apple in the pig's mouth and is promptly given a Spinal Tap-style rating of 11 out of 10. She also has an awesome stylist, Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), who doesn't just "make her pretty," but dresses her in a series of stunning outfits that no one can forget. After the games start, though, she is pretty much on her own and with 23 enemies, many of whom are bigger, stronger and faster, Katniss will need to rely on her wits as well as her mad bow skillz if she is going to make it out alive.
Without wishing too sound too much of a fangirl, The Hunger Games is one of the best films I've seen this year. In part, this is down to the casting. Jennifer Lawrence, of Winter's Bone fame (where she also played a real survivor--the determined teenager Ree, who has to protect her younger siblings in the face of an absent, drug-dealing father and a depressed mother), puts in a really strong performance as Katniss and does justice to the young heroine described in the books. Even when she isn't being likable, we sympathise and we understand her fear and her determination. With so many characters and so much plot to get through, some of the other actors, such as Kravitz, seem rather unused, although I did think Harrelson made the perfect Haymitch. Hemsworth and Hutchershon stood out less and Alexander Ludwig's Cato, the arrogant, blonde jock from District 2, was pretty stereotypical. Some of the female contestants were more interesting, like Clove (Isabelle Furhman), the District 2 mean girl.
At 2h20, The Hunger Games is long but it is action-packed and at no point was I bored; on the contrary, for the first time since I saw The Social Network, I would have liked the film to go on, although there will be sequels, presumably, for that. The film was a very faithful adaptation of the book, unsurprising, perhaps, as Collins co-wrote the screenplay and given what the fans might do if the movie veered too far away from the source material. The Hunger Games is no sappy teen love story--it is scary, both in the ideas it presents and in the events in the arena, and compelling and well worth a watch.
25 March 2012
48 Hours in...Bristol
The train prices to Paris and even Edinburgh were too expensive this week and so we ended up in Bristol for our mini-city-break. The last time I went to Bristol was in 2001 on a university open day and I liked the place enough to make it my safety choice (not that an AAB offer was much of a safety net), but looking back, all I really remember of that day is my trip to TopShop. Anyway, after a quick Google search, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the city offered several nice-looking independent coffee bars and even a couple of secret speakeasy cocktail bars--my main requirements for any holiday destination--and overall, I was impressed. Here are some of my recommendations:
View Bristol Roving in a larger map
Places to stay
There are many different hotel and B&B options but we wanted to stay somewhere central but reasonably priced and narrowed it down to the Bristol Hotel and the Brooks Guesthouse, opting for the latter, in the end, as it seemed a more personal, friendly sort of place. Brooks used to be a youth hostel before being converted into a small but chic and tastefully decorated B&B. Our room was small but comfortable and reasonably quiet given its city centre location (and given the end-of-term celebrations that seemed to be going on outside). Once we'd figured out how to turn the main lights on, we were all set. The shower could have been slightly bigger, but overall, the room was nice and thoughtfully put together. The staff were very friendly too and breakfast included a long list of options and specials--I had a bacon sarnie one day and scrambled eggs and bacon on the other, but we were also encouraged to help ourselves to fruit, granola parfait and freshly baked blueberry muffins. Oh, and there is free WiFi and a laptop for guest use--one of the things that put me off the Bristol Hotel was the WiFi charge.
Places to drink
As I mentioned, I managed to track down two New York-style cocktail bars in Bristol. One, Hausbar, was that little bit too far away so we went to Hyde & Co, on Berkeley Crescent. There were no other customers when we arrived at about 7.30 on Thursday night but they were playing good music and the ambiance was cosy and cool; there were a few others there by the time we left. The drinks list was fairly extensive and creative--my drink isn't on the online menu but was strong, fruity and not too sweet (I don't think the Knickerbocker was on the menu we got and I would definitely have ordered that). The special of the day was the Hotel California so one of us had to order that, of course, but not me, given its cider content.
Places to eat
A quick Google search brought up a number of different restaurants but we decided to go to the Cowshed, a purveyor of steak on the hill up towards Clifton. Even on a Thursday, the earliest we could get a table was 8.30, although this suited us fine and gave us time for a pre-dinner aperitif. The Cowshed looks like it used to be someone's very grand, high-ceilinged living room and basement, and it probably was. The restaurant was nearly full and bustling. Although there were other options, we couldn't not have steak and my fillet steak was great and perfectly medium to medium-rare. The fries were chunkier than the "skinny" description on the menu suggested but very tasty, and although I do object to paying extra for a condiment, the Béarnaise complemented my steak nicely. We passed on the puddings, though; there were a few tempting options but some crazy mark-ups: £8.30 for a chocolate torte and accoutrements? I think not. That aside, the Cowshed is a really nice independent restaurant.
On Friday night, we left dinner a little late and weren't sure where to try. We might have gone to Bistro du Vin but we had had steak the night before. Equally, although the menu at Bordeaux Quay looked quite promising, we weren't convinced by the ambiance, based on the restaurant's website. Thinking pizza might be a good option, we came across A Capella, which earned high praise from the Guardian, but it turned out to be too far out of town. Finally, we settled on No 51 Stokes Croft, which also sounded like a good bet for pizza. I was somewhat dubious when we showed up and there was a club-style bouncer and a bar/club set-up downstairs. The upstairs restaurant was quieter and cosier, though, and with music from the Blues Brothers soundtrack and from Mr J. Cash. The pizzas were actually very good: big, thin and crispy and with good quality tomato and mozzarella. Unusually, I chose a prosciutto, rocket and parmesan topping, which I promptly ate straight off the pizza before making a start on the base. So, that told me!
Places to caffeinate
We had a few coffee joints on our shortlist, assuming that our choice would probably depend on our location. We ended up having a macchiato and a sandwich at 194° Fahrenheit on a sunny, pedestrianised street in Clifton. The coffee was good, although not world-class--there was too much milk in my double mac, although the non-coffee-snob part of me doesn't really mind this. The other main candidate on my caffeine list was Coffee #1, which has a number of outlets in the region, including one in Clifton. We had a quick peek inside and it had the feel of a friendly, neighbourhood coffee shop but with the bonus of a great coffee machine (La Marzocco). Sadly, we didn't have time to test out the coffee but I would definitely want to stop by next time I'm in town.
Places to see
OK, so we didn't end up doing that many touristy things. We walked along the harbourside, which was pretty funky and high-tech, and we walked up to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which provided some great views by day and by night. We also went to the camera obscura in the Clifton Observatory, next to the bridge. I'm not sure I've ever been in a camera obscura before and it was great fun being able to watch the view of the bridge--and to spy on people outside, of course! Other than that, we wandered a lot and watched the Hunger Games film (review to follow), at the Showcase cinema, rather than at the Watershed, sadly.
Overall, then, Bristol impressed me. If you're looking for a cool place for a short city break, I would definitely recommend it. I didn't end up doing any shopping, unusually for me, but from what I saw of the shops, it looks like it would be a good shopping destination too.
View Bristol Roving in a larger map
Places to stay
There are many different hotel and B&B options but we wanted to stay somewhere central but reasonably priced and narrowed it down to the Bristol Hotel and the Brooks Guesthouse, opting for the latter, in the end, as it seemed a more personal, friendly sort of place. Brooks used to be a youth hostel before being converted into a small but chic and tastefully decorated B&B. Our room was small but comfortable and reasonably quiet given its city centre location (and given the end-of-term celebrations that seemed to be going on outside). Once we'd figured out how to turn the main lights on, we were all set. The shower could have been slightly bigger, but overall, the room was nice and thoughtfully put together. The staff were very friendly too and breakfast included a long list of options and specials--I had a bacon sarnie one day and scrambled eggs and bacon on the other, but we were also encouraged to help ourselves to fruit, granola parfait and freshly baked blueberry muffins. Oh, and there is free WiFi and a laptop for guest use--one of the things that put me off the Bristol Hotel was the WiFi charge.
Places to drink
As I mentioned, I managed to track down two New York-style cocktail bars in Bristol. One, Hausbar, was that little bit too far away so we went to Hyde & Co, on Berkeley Crescent. There were no other customers when we arrived at about 7.30 on Thursday night but they were playing good music and the ambiance was cosy and cool; there were a few others there by the time we left. The drinks list was fairly extensive and creative--my drink isn't on the online menu but was strong, fruity and not too sweet (I don't think the Knickerbocker was on the menu we got and I would definitely have ordered that). The special of the day was the Hotel California so one of us had to order that, of course, but not me, given its cider content.
 |
| Hyde & Co |
A quick Google search brought up a number of different restaurants but we decided to go to the Cowshed, a purveyor of steak on the hill up towards Clifton. Even on a Thursday, the earliest we could get a table was 8.30, although this suited us fine and gave us time for a pre-dinner aperitif. The Cowshed looks like it used to be someone's very grand, high-ceilinged living room and basement, and it probably was. The restaurant was nearly full and bustling. Although there were other options, we couldn't not have steak and my fillet steak was great and perfectly medium to medium-rare. The fries were chunkier than the "skinny" description on the menu suggested but very tasty, and although I do object to paying extra for a condiment, the Béarnaise complemented my steak nicely. We passed on the puddings, though; there were a few tempting options but some crazy mark-ups: £8.30 for a chocolate torte and accoutrements? I think not. That aside, the Cowshed is a really nice independent restaurant.
 |
| Fillet steak at the Cowshed |
Places to caffeinate
We had a few coffee joints on our shortlist, assuming that our choice would probably depend on our location. We ended up having a macchiato and a sandwich at 194° Fahrenheit on a sunny, pedestrianised street in Clifton. The coffee was good, although not world-class--there was too much milk in my double mac, although the non-coffee-snob part of me doesn't really mind this. The other main candidate on my caffeine list was Coffee #1, which has a number of outlets in the region, including one in Clifton. We had a quick peek inside and it had the feel of a friendly, neighbourhood coffee shop but with the bonus of a great coffee machine (La Marzocco). Sadly, we didn't have time to test out the coffee but I would definitely want to stop by next time I'm in town.
 |
| Macchiato at 194F |
OK, so we didn't end up doing that many touristy things. We walked along the harbourside, which was pretty funky and high-tech, and we walked up to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which provided some great views by day and by night. We also went to the camera obscura in the Clifton Observatory, next to the bridge. I'm not sure I've ever been in a camera obscura before and it was great fun being able to watch the view of the bridge--and to spy on people outside, of course! Other than that, we wandered a lot and watched the Hunger Games film (review to follow), at the Showcase cinema, rather than at the Watershed, sadly.
 |
| Clifton Suspension Bridge by night |
Overall, then, Bristol impressed me. If you're looking for a cool place for a short city break, I would definitely recommend it. I didn't end up doing any shopping, unusually for me, but from what I saw of the shops, it looks like it would be a good shopping destination too.
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| Because it wouldn't be a holiday without a leap - this is taken in Millenium Square, near the Harbourside |
19 March 2012
Everyone's a Suspect
Officially, my favourite TV shows consist of: The Good Wife, Mad Men, Have I Got News for You (when I remember) and The Apprentice (BBC version, of course). I say "favourite" when actually, they are pretty much the only programmes I watch, other than the occasional BBC mini-series. And when I say "officially," there are usually one or two other shows I watch--my token guilty pleasure(s). The cycle of these went something like: Dawson's Creek > The OC > Gossip Girl > Pretty Little Liars. I've blogged about some of these before, but PLL is the newest, although season two is nearly at a close. Even though it's highly trashy and silly, I'm actually quite excited to find out what happens in tonight's episode.
I found out about PLL randomly--a blog I read did a post about the style of the four lead actresses and I was intrigued enough to watch the pilot, which, in turn, caught my attention enough to check out the other six or seven episodes of season one that had aired to date. PLL is a cross between Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl. I watched the former for a couple of seasons but I hated the fact that every time a small mystery was solved, you wouldn't care any more because there were three new mysteries that were far juicier. PLL is similar, although perhaps being able to watch seven or eight episodes over the course of a few days, rather than having to wait a whole week between episodes, helped to hook me in.
The plot is this: in a small town in Pennsylvania, four girls who used to be friends--the goth, the prep, the jock and the queen bee--are reunited when, a year after the disappearance--and, it soon transpires, murder--of a fifth friend, they all start to receive threatening notes, texts, IMs and general bad-ass cyber-bullying abuse. Each of the four PLLs has her own secrets but so does everyone in town. As Randy in Scream put it, "There's a very simple formula: everyone's a suspect." At first, the girls think they are being harassed by the same person who killed their friend Alison, and this may be true, but nearly two whole seasons in and although we have plenty of guilty-looking people and people with motives, we still don't know who killed Alison or who is "A," the girls' pseudonymous cyber-bully.
Tonight, though, A will be revealed--revealed to the audience and to the PLLs--and the season finale will set up a whole new mystery for next season. Interestingly, the producers and writers have known from the beginning who A is and clues have been placed along the way, which means people like me, who like solving puzzles, keep rewatching earlier episodes in search of clues. Meanwhile, executive producer Marlene King and others, keep dropping hints on Twitter and in interviews. There are now so many clues (some of which are probably misleading) that no suspect seems to fit perfectly. Each time you think you've cracked the mystery, you will remember that other hint you were given.
At this point, I'm giving up the guessing game, although if pushed, my money would be on Maya, not least because Bianca Lawson seemed old for a teenager when she was in Dawson's Creek, back in 1999, and that was last millennium. But the most important thing is that the revealed A makes sense--and has a good motive. Knowing PLL, however, the cliffhanger ending will probably mean that I'll be far more interested in the new mystery than the implication's of A's identity.
I found out about PLL randomly--a blog I read did a post about the style of the four lead actresses and I was intrigued enough to watch the pilot, which, in turn, caught my attention enough to check out the other six or seven episodes of season one that had aired to date. PLL is a cross between Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl. I watched the former for a couple of seasons but I hated the fact that every time a small mystery was solved, you wouldn't care any more because there were three new mysteries that were far juicier. PLL is similar, although perhaps being able to watch seven or eight episodes over the course of a few days, rather than having to wait a whole week between episodes, helped to hook me in.
The plot is this: in a small town in Pennsylvania, four girls who used to be friends--the goth, the prep, the jock and the queen bee--are reunited when, a year after the disappearance--and, it soon transpires, murder--of a fifth friend, they all start to receive threatening notes, texts, IMs and general bad-ass cyber-bullying abuse. Each of the four PLLs has her own secrets but so does everyone in town. As Randy in Scream put it, "There's a very simple formula: everyone's a suspect." At first, the girls think they are being harassed by the same person who killed their friend Alison, and this may be true, but nearly two whole seasons in and although we have plenty of guilty-looking people and people with motives, we still don't know who killed Alison or who is "A," the girls' pseudonymous cyber-bully.
Tonight, though, A will be revealed--revealed to the audience and to the PLLs--and the season finale will set up a whole new mystery for next season. Interestingly, the producers and writers have known from the beginning who A is and clues have been placed along the way, which means people like me, who like solving puzzles, keep rewatching earlier episodes in search of clues. Meanwhile, executive producer Marlene King and others, keep dropping hints on Twitter and in interviews. There are now so many clues (some of which are probably misleading) that no suspect seems to fit perfectly. Each time you think you've cracked the mystery, you will remember that other hint you were given.
At this point, I'm giving up the guessing game, although if pushed, my money would be on Maya, not least because Bianca Lawson seemed old for a teenager when she was in Dawson's Creek, back in 1999, and that was last millennium. But the most important thing is that the revealed A makes sense--and has a good motive. Knowing PLL, however, the cliffhanger ending will probably mean that I'll be far more interested in the new mystery than the implication's of A's identity.
Once a Smuggler...
Cinemas in the UK are still in that awkward phase at the moment--that post-Oscars but pre-summer-blockbuster period. Faced with such slim pickings, I opted to watch yet another solid crime/action thriller at the weekend: Contraband, more specifically. Having seen the trailer two or three times, I thought it would be decent enough and was likely to earn a 3/5 rating from me, which, at the moment, is sufficient. And my guess was accurate: there was enough action and enough plot twists to detract from the fact that Contraband is essentially a fairly insubstantial film.
Marky Mark plays Chris Farraday, a former super smuggler, who has now reformed and has his business fitting alarms. Now, for me, the world "smuggler" makes me think of Enid Blyton-esque baddies, who are secretly importing lashings of black market ginger beer, but Chris had a penchant for pricier booty. He's now married to Kate (Kate Beckinsdale), who, suspiciously, works in a hair salon but has really bad roots, and they have two young boys. So far, so good. But then Kate's little brother (Caleb Landry Jones) decides to get in on the contraband action and he and his buddy mess up an expensive job for a dangerous client (Giovanni Ribisi), and it falls on Chris to pay him back. And the only way he can do this is by getting a place on a container ship to Panama and managing to sneak gazillions of dollars of fake currency back into the US. Simple, huh?
Except it isn't. Chris's best friend Sebastian (Ben Foster) helps him and brother-in-law Andy get a place on the ship and ensures that he will get the help he needs from certain friendly crew members. He'll also keep an eye on Kate and the boys. That's what best friends do. Briggs, the aforementioned client, still manages to break into Kate's house and scare the crap out of her and the boys. Chris and Andy, meanwhile, execute their meticulously plotted, Danny Ocean-style caper. Mostly, Chris, actually. Andy just tends to get in the way and mess things up. Nonetheless, they make it to Panama in one piece and have only a couple of hours to pick up the currency, get back to the ship and hide it somewhere safe. This involves getting some help from Gonzalo (Diego Luna), whose lair is filled with caged snakes and other wild animals. "We fed him to the wolves," Gonzalo says to Chris of a former colleague. "What, literally?" asks Chris, eyeing Cujo et al. I found this exchange hilarious, in part because of Wahlberg's delivery and in part because Contraband isn't a very funny film and you have to take what humour you can get.
Anyway, without wishing to spoil the dénouement, such as it is, Chris suddenly realises that there may be more interested parties and more angles to Panama job than meets the eye. But does this sudden understanding come too late? Well, you'll have to see the film. I saw most of its twists coming a mile off and, despite the faint but apparent Ocean's 11 envy, Contraband isn't especially sophisticated. I don't think Wahlberg (or indeed any of the supporting cast) was spectacular and yet his Chris was likable and down-to-earth; I was rooting for him. Don't rush out to see Contraband at the cinema, but it is worth a watch once it hits the small screen.
Marky Mark plays Chris Farraday, a former super smuggler, who has now reformed and has his business fitting alarms. Now, for me, the world "smuggler" makes me think of Enid Blyton-esque baddies, who are secretly importing lashings of black market ginger beer, but Chris had a penchant for pricier booty. He's now married to Kate (Kate Beckinsdale), who, suspiciously, works in a hair salon but has really bad roots, and they have two young boys. So far, so good. But then Kate's little brother (Caleb Landry Jones) decides to get in on the contraband action and he and his buddy mess up an expensive job for a dangerous client (Giovanni Ribisi), and it falls on Chris to pay him back. And the only way he can do this is by getting a place on a container ship to Panama and managing to sneak gazillions of dollars of fake currency back into the US. Simple, huh?
Except it isn't. Chris's best friend Sebastian (Ben Foster) helps him and brother-in-law Andy get a place on the ship and ensures that he will get the help he needs from certain friendly crew members. He'll also keep an eye on Kate and the boys. That's what best friends do. Briggs, the aforementioned client, still manages to break into Kate's house and scare the crap out of her and the boys. Chris and Andy, meanwhile, execute their meticulously plotted, Danny Ocean-style caper. Mostly, Chris, actually. Andy just tends to get in the way and mess things up. Nonetheless, they make it to Panama in one piece and have only a couple of hours to pick up the currency, get back to the ship and hide it somewhere safe. This involves getting some help from Gonzalo (Diego Luna), whose lair is filled with caged snakes and other wild animals. "We fed him to the wolves," Gonzalo says to Chris of a former colleague. "What, literally?" asks Chris, eyeing Cujo et al. I found this exchange hilarious, in part because of Wahlberg's delivery and in part because Contraband isn't a very funny film and you have to take what humour you can get.
Anyway, without wishing to spoil the dénouement, such as it is, Chris suddenly realises that there may be more interested parties and more angles to Panama job than meets the eye. But does this sudden understanding come too late? Well, you'll have to see the film. I saw most of its twists coming a mile off and, despite the faint but apparent Ocean's 11 envy, Contraband isn't especially sophisticated. I don't think Wahlberg (or indeed any of the supporting cast) was spectacular and yet his Chris was likable and down-to-earth; I was rooting for him. Don't rush out to see Contraband at the cinema, but it is worth a watch once it hits the small screen.
17 March 2012
Indoor Street Food: Wahaca Review
A few weeks ago, an ill-fated attempt to dine at Pitt Cue Co on a Friday evening left two of my fellow bridge players and I with the prospect of finding somewhere to eat in Soho at 9.30 on a weekend night. Having just queued in vain for 45 minutes, we didn't really fancy more waiting, but we realised we may not have much choice. We figured that at least in Wahaca, on Wardour Street, we would definitely get a table before the place closed. In the end, we still had to wait about 45 minutes but waiting for a table is so much more pleasant when you are indoors and with a strong, sharp hibiscus margarita in your hand.
I had never been to Wahaca before, although I had often walked past both the Soho branch and its Covent Garden cousin and added it to my list of fall-back places to eat in the West End when other trendier places couldn't deliver. Wahaca has the kind of menu that is complicated enough that the wait staff have to ask whether you've eaten there before so that they can explain how things work if you're a n00b. Basically, though, the restaurant offers Mexican "market food" in various sizes and combinations. You can either choose two or three of the "street food" options, each of which yields two or three small tacos, quesadillas, and so on, or you can opt for a larger dish, like the British steak burrito, which comes with rice, beans and other Mexican accoutrements. Most of the small dishes cost between £3.50 and £4.50, while the larger options range from about £5 to £10, so the food is pretty reasonably priced. You are warned, however, that to ensure the freshness of your food, "as in the markets, some plates maybe delivered at slightly different times."
We shared some tortilla chips and guacamole to start and then I chose two smaller dishes and a side of green rice for my main course. The rice (£2.30) came in an a tiny portion, so it was lucky that by 10 pm I wasn't overly hungry. I also ordered the chicken mole tacos and the black bean and cheese quesadillas, which both tasted really good; the portions were generous enough that I could donate one of my three tacos to my friend. One of my companions ordered a larger burrito and the other chose similar dishes for me and with one round of margaritas, the tortilla chips and service, the bill worked out at about £18 each. Not quite street food prices, perhaps, but not bad for central London.
As for the ambiance, Wahaca was busy and bustling that night. The restaurant is pretty big with mainly canteen style seating at long, shared tables, but our waitress was friendly and efficient. I've eaten more authentic Mexican food in the US, but, as with the prices, for London, it was pretty good. I wouldn't go out of my way to take friends there but, as I suspected before visiting, I'm sure it will constitute a useful understudy when the queue at other cooler eateries is just too long.
Wahaca. 80 Wardour Street, London, W1F OTF (Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square). Website. Twitter.
I had never been to Wahaca before, although I had often walked past both the Soho branch and its Covent Garden cousin and added it to my list of fall-back places to eat in the West End when other trendier places couldn't deliver. Wahaca has the kind of menu that is complicated enough that the wait staff have to ask whether you've eaten there before so that they can explain how things work if you're a n00b. Basically, though, the restaurant offers Mexican "market food" in various sizes and combinations. You can either choose two or three of the "street food" options, each of which yields two or three small tacos, quesadillas, and so on, or you can opt for a larger dish, like the British steak burrito, which comes with rice, beans and other Mexican accoutrements. Most of the small dishes cost between £3.50 and £4.50, while the larger options range from about £5 to £10, so the food is pretty reasonably priced. You are warned, however, that to ensure the freshness of your food, "as in the markets, some plates maybe delivered at slightly different times."
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| Chicken mole tacos - I was sold as soon as the waitress told me they had a chocolate- (and chili pepper-) based sauce! |
As for the ambiance, Wahaca was busy and bustling that night. The restaurant is pretty big with mainly canteen style seating at long, shared tables, but our waitress was friendly and efficient. I've eaten more authentic Mexican food in the US, but, as with the prices, for London, it was pretty good. I wouldn't go out of my way to take friends there but, as I suspected before visiting, I'm sure it will constitute a useful understudy when the queue at other cooler eateries is just too long.
Wahaca. 80 Wardour Street, London, W1F OTF (Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square). Website. Twitter.
15 March 2012
Never Work with Children or Animals
On Monday, I went to a preview screening of the new Cameron Crowe film, We Bought a Zoo; as I took Maman, who gets bored easily at the cinema, there was a lot riding on it. Based on Benjamin Mee's book of the same name about his somewhat inadvertent real-life acquisition of Dartmoor Zoo in Devon, Crowe's movie transplants the action to southern California and casts Matt Damon as Mee and Scarlett Johansson as Kelly, the head zoo keeper. The result is more than a little cheesy but also funny and uplifting and, as you might expect for a Cameron Crowe project, has a great soundtrack.
Six months after the death of his beloved wife, Benjamin Mee is in the worst kind of limbo. He can't move on or let her go, refusing to yield to the flirtations of the pretty, hopeful single moms from his kids' schools, but fed up of having everyone feel sorry for him. His newspaper job suddenly becomes surplus to requirements and although his boss is unwilling to fire him at such a difficult time, he takes it as a sign and quits. His 14-year-old son Dylan (Colin Ford) is also having difficulties dealing with the loss of his mother and spends a lot of time making brilliant but dark and somewhat twisted drawings. He also gets into trouble at school and is eventually expelled. Benjamin is angry but sees this as a sign that the whole family needs something new.
After an exhaustive real estate search, he and his precocious seven-year-old daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) fall in love with a beautiful house way out in the countryside. There is just one catch: the house comes with a zoo, the Rosemoor Animal Park, to be more precise. On learning that if a buyer isn't found, the zoo will have to be shut down altogether, Benjamin caves and somewhat apprehensively agrees to buy the place, despite knowing almost nothing about wild animals and zoo-keeping. Luckily, Rosemoor comes with a staff, including Kelly, as well as a somewhat under-used Patrick Fugit, another keeper who is mainly seen with a gorgeous capuchin monkey on his shoulder, and various other quirky employees.
Benjamin soon realises how expensive and complicated the zoo-keeping business really is; for example, should you try to medicate a seriously ill 17-year-old tiger or is it kinder to have it put down? And the zoo will certainly never make any money back if it doesn't pass a strict inspection, which must take place before Rosewood can open. His recovering wildchild-turned-accountant brother (Thomas Haden Church) thinks he's mad and the zoo staff don't have much faith in him either. Dylan hates his father for dragging him out to the countryside, away from his friends, and all three Mees must learn to deal with their grief for their wife/mother, which is no mean feat. And Kelly helps a lot, offering pizza to the kids and friendship--and perhaps more--to Benjamin.
We Bought a Zoo is pretty predictable and although it is more than two hours long, it felt like Crowe tried to pack too much in, which means that the treatment of some of aspects of the film ended up feeling rather too superficial. The tiered ending, in which each element in turn is neatly wrapped up, also meant the film seemed to drag a little. The movie is being marketed as a family film, which will probably put off some adults, yet although the animals will appeal to children, there is probably too much "boring grown-up stuff" for younger kids, leaving We Bought a Zoo in an odd limbo. Nonetheless, Damon and Johansson are both very likable and the relationship between their two characters felt realistic. Crowe has never been too good at female characters (cf Jerry Maguire and almost all of his other films) and Kelly is a little two-dimensional but again, this may just be a product of the film trying to do too much. And against my better judgement, I found myself charmed by We Bought a Zoo and not just because of the gorgeous monkeys and big cats.
Six months after the death of his beloved wife, Benjamin Mee is in the worst kind of limbo. He can't move on or let her go, refusing to yield to the flirtations of the pretty, hopeful single moms from his kids' schools, but fed up of having everyone feel sorry for him. His newspaper job suddenly becomes surplus to requirements and although his boss is unwilling to fire him at such a difficult time, he takes it as a sign and quits. His 14-year-old son Dylan (Colin Ford) is also having difficulties dealing with the loss of his mother and spends a lot of time making brilliant but dark and somewhat twisted drawings. He also gets into trouble at school and is eventually expelled. Benjamin is angry but sees this as a sign that the whole family needs something new.
After an exhaustive real estate search, he and his precocious seven-year-old daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) fall in love with a beautiful house way out in the countryside. There is just one catch: the house comes with a zoo, the Rosemoor Animal Park, to be more precise. On learning that if a buyer isn't found, the zoo will have to be shut down altogether, Benjamin caves and somewhat apprehensively agrees to buy the place, despite knowing almost nothing about wild animals and zoo-keeping. Luckily, Rosemoor comes with a staff, including Kelly, as well as a somewhat under-used Patrick Fugit, another keeper who is mainly seen with a gorgeous capuchin monkey on his shoulder, and various other quirky employees.
Benjamin soon realises how expensive and complicated the zoo-keeping business really is; for example, should you try to medicate a seriously ill 17-year-old tiger or is it kinder to have it put down? And the zoo will certainly never make any money back if it doesn't pass a strict inspection, which must take place before Rosewood can open. His recovering wildchild-turned-accountant brother (Thomas Haden Church) thinks he's mad and the zoo staff don't have much faith in him either. Dylan hates his father for dragging him out to the countryside, away from his friends, and all three Mees must learn to deal with their grief for their wife/mother, which is no mean feat. And Kelly helps a lot, offering pizza to the kids and friendship--and perhaps more--to Benjamin.
We Bought a Zoo is pretty predictable and although it is more than two hours long, it felt like Crowe tried to pack too much in, which means that the treatment of some of aspects of the film ended up feeling rather too superficial. The tiered ending, in which each element in turn is neatly wrapped up, also meant the film seemed to drag a little. The movie is being marketed as a family film, which will probably put off some adults, yet although the animals will appeal to children, there is probably too much "boring grown-up stuff" for younger kids, leaving We Bought a Zoo in an odd limbo. Nonetheless, Damon and Johansson are both very likable and the relationship between their two characters felt realistic. Crowe has never been too good at female characters (cf Jerry Maguire and almost all of his other films) and Kelly is a little two-dimensional but again, this may just be a product of the film trying to do too much. And against my better judgement, I found myself charmed by We Bought a Zoo and not just because of the gorgeous monkeys and big cats.
14 March 2012
Worth the Wait: Pitt Cue Co Review
I have been trying--unsuccessfully--to eat at Pitt Cue Co, London's newest southern-style BBQ restaurant in Newburgh Street, since it opened. The closest I came was after the disappointment of The Woman in the Fifth: we rocked up at 8.45 on a Friday night and there appeared to be only 15 or so people ahead of us, so we waited for a bit, enjoyed a free sample of the pulled pork, and waited some more. Eventually, someone came out and told us they might not be able to serve us before closing time. The queue, it seemed, continued into the restaurant's tiny ground-floor bar area, probably helped by an article about the place in the Times that day; the tables, seating 30 people in total, were downstairs. Disheartened, we left and sought sustenance elsewhere.
I hoped that on a cool, grey Tuesday evening in March, I would have better luck, but just after BB and I had made plans to meet there at 6.30, Londonist posted a write-up of Pitt Cue Co. When I arrived, the bar area was almost full but there wasn't yet a queue outside. I put my name down for a table and was told the wait would be about an hour. Still, an hour waiting at a cool bar with interesting, albeit blokey, cocktails is much more appealing than lingering in the cold on a Soho side street. So, we ordered our hard lemonades (lemonade with some kind of booze--probably whiskey--strong enough to take the edge off a long Tuesday) and waited and tried to stay out of the way. The hostess's prediction turned out to be very accurate and we were seated, at one of the few ground-floor seats by the windows rather than in the main restaurant downstairs, just after 7.30.
Pitt Cue Co is really not the place to come if you're a vegetarian. The menu options are basically: pork, ribs, sausage or steak. Each of the main courses comes with cucumber and onion pickle and a side, so I opted for burnt-end mash with my St Louis ribs. For £12, I got a huge plate of food--even the mash was topped with some kind of pork and gravy--which more than filled me up. The meat was very tender and flavoursome and slipped right off the bone. The flavour was just as authentic as many of the southern BBQ restaurants I've tried in New York, although I have never ventured south of Virginia! In fact, the least authentic thing about Pitt Cue Co was the waitress's pronunciation of "St Louis" as she repeated my order back to me. I said ['sənt 'lu:Is] ("Lewis"), she said ['sənt 'lu:i] (rhymes with dewy), but we called the whole thing off. BB went for the pulled pork option, and for those with slightly smaller appetites, there are "bun meals" on the menu, which consist of pulled pork in a bun with a side dish.
Overall, I was very impressed. The food was good value for money and very tasty and I will definitely be returning anon. Interestingly, by 8 pm, the queue had subsisted and we had a bit more space. Perhaps this was because so many people work near Carnaby Street and stopped by on the way home, rather than planning a long Tuesday night out. Either way, Pitt Cue Co was worth the wait--and worth the queue and the inconvenience of a no-bookings policy.
Pitt Cue Co. 1 Newburgh Street, London, W1F 7RB (Tube: Oxford Circus). Website. Twitter.
I hoped that on a cool, grey Tuesday evening in March, I would have better luck, but just after BB and I had made plans to meet there at 6.30, Londonist posted a write-up of Pitt Cue Co. When I arrived, the bar area was almost full but there wasn't yet a queue outside. I put my name down for a table and was told the wait would be about an hour. Still, an hour waiting at a cool bar with interesting, albeit blokey, cocktails is much more appealing than lingering in the cold on a Soho side street. So, we ordered our hard lemonades (lemonade with some kind of booze--probably whiskey--strong enough to take the edge off a long Tuesday) and waited and tried to stay out of the way. The hostess's prediction turned out to be very accurate and we were seated, at one of the few ground-floor seats by the windows rather than in the main restaurant downstairs, just after 7.30.
Pitt Cue Co is really not the place to come if you're a vegetarian. The menu options are basically: pork, ribs, sausage or steak. Each of the main courses comes with cucumber and onion pickle and a side, so I opted for burnt-end mash with my St Louis ribs. For £12, I got a huge plate of food--even the mash was topped with some kind of pork and gravy--which more than filled me up. The meat was very tender and flavoursome and slipped right off the bone. The flavour was just as authentic as many of the southern BBQ restaurants I've tried in New York, although I have never ventured south of Virginia! In fact, the least authentic thing about Pitt Cue Co was the waitress's pronunciation of "St Louis" as she repeated my order back to me. I said ['sənt 'lu:Is] ("Lewis"), she said ['sənt 'lu:i] (rhymes with dewy), but we called the whole thing off. BB went for the pulled pork option, and for those with slightly smaller appetites, there are "bun meals" on the menu, which consist of pulled pork in a bun with a side dish.
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| Pitt Cue Co's St Louis ribs with burnt-end mash |
Overall, I was very impressed. The food was good value for money and very tasty and I will definitely be returning anon. Interestingly, by 8 pm, the queue had subsisted and we had a bit more space. Perhaps this was because so many people work near Carnaby Street and stopped by on the way home, rather than planning a long Tuesday night out. Either way, Pitt Cue Co was worth the wait--and worth the queue and the inconvenience of a no-bookings policy.
Pitt Cue Co. 1 Newburgh Street, London, W1F 7RB (Tube: Oxford Circus). Website. Twitter.
12 March 2012
Glossybox March 2012 - South by SW1X
The February 2012 Glossybox, it turns out, wasn't very popular. Quite a few people had issues with the low overall monetary value of the box's contents and the shortage of full-size products. I would much rather have a box with products I will actually use, even if the items are a little cheaper and "safer" (shower gels, neutral lip glosses, and so on) than the contents of other recent boxes. I've used my DuWop Venom Gloss and Paul Mitchell Quick Slip almost every day and like them both. I'm still rationing myself with the Como Shambhala shower gel because I love the smell but wouldn't pay £20 for a 300 ml full-size bottle. Oh, and I haven't used the scary bright orange stick-on nails.
And so to March. This month, Glossybox promised its subscribers something special. Indeed, in the February box, there was a card directing us to the URL www.glossybox.co.uk/mysterybox and it turned out that each day, the site would reveal different letters, which, when added together, would form a clue to Glossybox's "most exciting project so far." I hoped this would mean a freebie or the chance to win a special Glossybox but it turned out that the clue was "Knightsbridge" and the special project was a collaboration with Harrods. There weren't any extra freebies but the box would be extra special, they promised. I try not to read any Glossybox reviews until I have received my own box but I did notice a Burberry lipstick in the photos posted by one of the bloggers invited to the press launch of the Harrods Glossybox, which seemed promising.
The theme of the March Glossybox is, then, products you can buy in the beauty hall at Harrods. Technically, you can buy all of the products in most other London department stores too, but if it means a more luxurious Glossybox than usual, I don't want to complain too much. So, here's what I got in my box:
And so to March. This month, Glossybox promised its subscribers something special. Indeed, in the February box, there was a card directing us to the URL www.glossybox.co.uk/mysterybox and it turned out that each day, the site would reveal different letters, which, when added together, would form a clue to Glossybox's "most exciting project so far." I hoped this would mean a freebie or the chance to win a special Glossybox but it turned out that the clue was "Knightsbridge" and the special project was a collaboration with Harrods. There weren't any extra freebies but the box would be extra special, they promised. I try not to read any Glossybox reviews until I have received my own box but I did notice a Burberry lipstick in the photos posted by one of the bloggers invited to the press launch of the Harrods Glossybox, which seemed promising.
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| Top: Clarins cream, Burberry lip mist, Molton Brown shower gel. Bottom: YSL serum, Narciso Rodriguez perfume |
1. Narciso Rodriguez for Her eau de parfum (1 ml). I am not a huge perfume junkie—the only perfume I really like is the one I use, Hermès’s Un Jardin en Méditerranée—but this is OK. It’s sweet and a little too floral for my tastes so I don’t mind too much that it comes in such a tiny sample. These mini-vials are, I suppose, useful for keeping in an office drawer. In this Glossybox, prices for the full sizes aren’t listed but this perfume is £55.50 for 50 ml on the Harrods website (you can get it cheaper online, though).
2. Molton Brown Moisture Bath & Shower Gel in heavenly gingerlily (50 ml). Molton Brown shower gels are lovely, if pricey, and I I like this scent so I’m fairly pleased with the sample, even though I did get a big gift pack of travel-size Molton Brown shower gels a couple of years ago, which I’m still working my way through. £18 for the 300 ml full size.
3. YSL Forever Youth Liberator Serum (5 ml). I’m interested to try this anti-ageing serum as it’s not something I would spend my money on at this stage. They use lots of “science” in their description (“glycobiology is a revolutionary science which M.I.T. calls one of the 10 fields of science that will change the future of medicine”), which can be a bad sign; equally the card in my box says the results (“helping to increase youthful activity in skin cells”) were from in vitro tests (in cultured cells) rather than, say, on real live people. Still, I will test the product with an open mind. £60 for the 30 ml full size.
4. Burberry Lip Mist in copper 202 (0.8 g). And so here’s the biggie. Except, it’s actually a tiny sample. My second concern was the colour “copper” sounded very orangey to me. In fact, it is quite a subtle brownish peach, which is sheer enough to be fairly flattering on my warm skintone. This lipstick isn’t super-moisturizing but it isn’t drying, either. And to be fair, the sample will probably last me until I find my next new lip product. It is a shame, though, that we didn’t get a bigger product to test. £23 for the full size lipstick.
5. Clarins Extra-Firming Body Cream (30 ml). Meh. I don’t really use body moisturisers very much and, in any case, I have a huge backlog of them (including this onefrom my January Glossybox). I will probably use this eventually or give it to Maman but I’m not overly excited about this product. £39.50 for the 200 ml full size.
Total value of the products in this month's Glossybox: about £25 (depending on how big the full-size lipstick is). Also, almost half of the value comes from the eye serum, so if you don’t like that, the rest of the contents of your box are pretty low-value. The perfume sample, for example, is worth about £1.11!
Overall rating: 2.5/5. This is probably my least favourite box so far: it doesn’t contain any products I love, and two of the products come from my least favourite categories (perfumes and body creams). The lipstick and the shower gel are both really nice and I will definitely use them, and I plan to use up the serum, even if it is highly unlikely that I will repurchase it.
11 March 2012
East Meets Wessex
My favourite Hardy is Tom, the actor. I'm much less keen on the writings of Thomas, the writer, but I only found out towards the end of the trailer for Michael Winterbottom's Trishna that the movie is based on Tess of the d'Urbervilles and by then, it had already caught my attention. Moving the action from 19th century Wessex to contemporary India, Trishna is, overall, an interesting, colourful if ultimately (and unsurprisingly) tragic interpretation of Hardy's novel.
As Trishna opens, half-Indian Jay (Riz Ahmed) and his British buddies are on a sort of gap yah and are nearing the end of a grand tour of India, after which Jay will go and take over one of his father's hotels in Jaipur. But on the last night, Jay spots a beautiful girl dancing as part of the entertainments that are going on in the small town in which they find themselves. He sees the girl, whose name is Trishna (Freida Pinto) again the following day and tells her he will get a job for her in his father's hotel. She expects never to see hear from him again and returns to her family's small house in the countryside. But one day, her father falls asleep at the wheel of his truck and crashes, destroying the truck, seriously injuring himself and breaking Trishna's arm. Luckily, Jay has managed to secure Trishna the hotel job and she heads off to Jaipur.
Jay clearly has the hots for Trishna and it seems that she likes him too but is far too worried about leaving her job to do anything and their relationship remains that of a master and his servant. Later, though, they defy their families and societal and cultural norms and run away to Mumbai. Jay doesn't really like managing hotels, he decides, as it's too much like hard work. In the big city, they are free to be together and it is wonderful and romantic. But because this is based on a Hardy novel, we know things aren't going to end well. His father's illness forces Jay to return to the hotel, where Trisha cannot be accepted as his girlfriend and instead takes a job at the hotel, where she must satisfy his every demand. Bringing him a drink or lunch, at first, but then, after his perusal of the Kama Sutra, his wishes become more carnal. The easy-going, happy, loved-up Jay from the first part of the film has been replaced by a colder, crueller man who seems to enjoy some of the benefits the caste system can bring him (Jay is an amalgamation of the characters of Alec and Angel from the novel, hence his character's complete 180). And no, it doesn't end well.
I thought the setting worked well and the film is beautifully shot, contrasting long, leisurely pans of the sunset over the rooftops of Mumbai with close ups of the birds and monkeys that roam the gardens of the palatial Jaipur hotel. Pinto makes a beautiful Trishna/Tess but she doesn't get a huge amount to do other than look very sad, whereas Ahmed's transition from sweet, charming boyfriend to selfish, lazy tyrant is rather too swift, even bearing in mind the revelations that precede this shift. Still, Trishna remains a compelling film, and almost encourages me to give Tess another read. Almost.
07 March 2012
Impractical Fishkeeping
I didn't pay much attention to all the excitement over Paul Torday's 2007 novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and I don't think I knew that a big-screen adaptation was being made but when I received an email from the BFI promoting their preview of the film and saw that it had Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt in it, I decided it couldn't be too bad. I still didn't know much about it--beyond the obvious, of course. It turns out that Lasse Hallström's movie isn't just about a madcap plan to facilitate the eponymous salmon fishing; it is a sometimes sweet but usually bitingly satirical tale of politics, cultural exchange, friendship and even PR.
To cover up a PR disaster, Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas), the brilliantly and brilliantly cynical press officer for the British prime minister, needs to find a positive story about relations between Britain and the Middle East. Her minions get on the case but after Googling "good news story about the Middle East," the best they can come up with is a handsome and rich but whacky Scots-resident sheikh (Amr Waked), who wants to introduce salmon fishing to his native Yemen. He loves to fish in the loch in his Scottish estate, you see, and wants his fellow Yemenis to enjoy this simple pleasure. They even built the necessary dam and everything. The project is important to Maxwell, especially after she finds out that there are two million anglers in the UK (many of whom, she hopes, vote with her party) and countless trade publications, whose covers could be adorned with the PM's mug as he tells the world the story of how salmon fishing achieved world piece. It doesn't hurt that the sheikh is willing to drop £50 million to get things rolling.
The heads of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Environment Agency to support the project and so government scientist and keen angler Fred Jones (McGregor) finds himself in a meeting with the sheikh's representative Harriet (Blunt). Fred thinks the very idea is ridiculous but theoretically possible and his wild speculations about how the project could potentially be carried out are enough to convince Harriet that all is well. And an odd friendship begins to develop between them. Blunt is, as ever, playing the sharp-tongued posh totty (cf The Devil Wears Prada and The Young Victoria), while McGregor goes for the sad, serious Scot (cf Perfect Sense; he's sad and serious--though not Scottish--in many more movies). She likes Mulberry, he's a little bit on the spectrum. Oh, and they're both unhappy romantically. Harriet has a hot new boyfriend (Tom Mison) who has just been deployed to Afghanistan, while Fred has a pleasant but dull, passionless life with his frumpy wife Mary (Rachael Stirling) whom he married too young. And what better to foster friendship and even, possibly, romance than loneliness and a crazy pipe-dream?
Inevitably, the best laid schemes o' mice and men / gang aft agley, often thanks to Maxwell's machinations. Scott Thomas does rather steal the show as she plots, manipulates and blackmails. Her IM chats with the PM are particularly hilarious and she complains to the sheikh's people at his ancient Scottish pile that the turrets are blocking her mobile phone reception. McGregor is great too, playing the analytical, diffident geek, who slowly evolves into a warmer, funnier man, due to his newfound passion for the salmon project and his growing friendship with Harriet; his near bromance with the sheikh was also fun to watch. Blunt also did well as the surprisingly complex Harriet. Simon Beaufoy's screenplay was very sharp and extremely funny and the long lingering shots of the lochs of Scotland and contrasted very well with those of the Yemeni deserts (filmed in Morocco, of course). Overall, I really enjoyed Salmon Fishing and now plan to go back and read the book; unfortunately, the film isn't released in the UK until the end of April.
To cover up a PR disaster, Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas), the brilliantly and brilliantly cynical press officer for the British prime minister, needs to find a positive story about relations between Britain and the Middle East. Her minions get on the case but after Googling "good news story about the Middle East," the best they can come up with is a handsome and rich but whacky Scots-resident sheikh (Amr Waked), who wants to introduce salmon fishing to his native Yemen. He loves to fish in the loch in his Scottish estate, you see, and wants his fellow Yemenis to enjoy this simple pleasure. They even built the necessary dam and everything. The project is important to Maxwell, especially after she finds out that there are two million anglers in the UK (many of whom, she hopes, vote with her party) and countless trade publications, whose covers could be adorned with the PM's mug as he tells the world the story of how salmon fishing achieved world piece. It doesn't hurt that the sheikh is willing to drop £50 million to get things rolling.
The heads of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the Environment Agency to support the project and so government scientist and keen angler Fred Jones (McGregor) finds himself in a meeting with the sheikh's representative Harriet (Blunt). Fred thinks the very idea is ridiculous but theoretically possible and his wild speculations about how the project could potentially be carried out are enough to convince Harriet that all is well. And an odd friendship begins to develop between them. Blunt is, as ever, playing the sharp-tongued posh totty (cf The Devil Wears Prada and The Young Victoria), while McGregor goes for the sad, serious Scot (cf Perfect Sense; he's sad and serious--though not Scottish--in many more movies). She likes Mulberry, he's a little bit on the spectrum. Oh, and they're both unhappy romantically. Harriet has a hot new boyfriend (Tom Mison) who has just been deployed to Afghanistan, while Fred has a pleasant but dull, passionless life with his frumpy wife Mary (Rachael Stirling) whom he married too young. And what better to foster friendship and even, possibly, romance than loneliness and a crazy pipe-dream?
Inevitably, the best laid schemes o' mice and men / gang aft agley, often thanks to Maxwell's machinations. Scott Thomas does rather steal the show as she plots, manipulates and blackmails. Her IM chats with the PM are particularly hilarious and she complains to the sheikh's people at his ancient Scottish pile that the turrets are blocking her mobile phone reception. McGregor is great too, playing the analytical, diffident geek, who slowly evolves into a warmer, funnier man, due to his newfound passion for the salmon project and his growing friendship with Harriet; his near bromance with the sheikh was also fun to watch. Blunt also did well as the surprisingly complex Harriet. Simon Beaufoy's screenplay was very sharp and extremely funny and the long lingering shots of the lochs of Scotland and contrasted very well with those of the Yemeni deserts (filmed in Morocco, of course). Overall, I really enjoyed Salmon Fishing and now plan to go back and read the book; unfortunately, the film isn't released in the UK until the end of April.