From the trailer, I gathered there would be a romance between Fred Jones (Ewan McGregor) and the beautiful Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Emily Blunt). And Patricia Maxwell (Kirstin Scott Thomas) would provide comic relief as the over-the-top press secretary to the British prime minister.

But there is more to this movie that combines the screenwriting talents of Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) and the directorial abilities of Lasse Hallström (Chocolat).  The end result is an inspiring movie  about making the impossible possible.

A visionary sheik (Amr Waked) wants to stock the Yemen River with North Atlantic salmon. Desperate for a positive human interest story from the Middle East, Patricia Maxwell sets in motion a chain of events involving Britain’s leading fisheries expert, Fred, and the sheik’s attaché, Harriet.

At first skeptical, Fred admits that the idea is “theoretically possible” and then adds the qualifier: “the way a manned mission to Mars is theoretically possible.” But after meeting the sheik and spending time under the desert sun, Fred becomes enthusiastic about the project. Together, Fred, Harriet and the sheik embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish.