Fisherman's Friends Movie Review

Copyright Entertainment Film Distributors

Fisherman's Friends is not the Godfather. Now I know that might sound like the most baffling opening to a review you'll read all year but I feel its important to so say that this is not a film that's trying to be fine art so while this film has some issues there's little point in ripping it apart. Yes I could but it would be a waste of both mine and your time if I sat here and tore a whimsical film about singing fishermen apart.

So what is Fisherman's Friends apart, well it follows a group of lifelong friends in Port Isaac in Cornwall who are guess what, fishermen. The film opens with a montage of our main characters going out for a days trawling. While on the boat one of them, Jago, starts singing a sea shanty, something that they clearly like doing.

Anyway we jump to London where a bunch of rich music producers are getting ready to go on a stag do, once they arrive in Cornwall they end up going down a one way street which annoys a local woman, one of the producers, Danny, played by Daniel Mays gets out and tries to negotiate. This goes about as well as you would expect and they wind up annoying her further. We are then treated to another montage of the producers pratting about on body boards after the Yacht one of them hired turned out to not exist. After a near death experience on a few body boards the rich chaps get rescued by the coast guards who are guess what, the local fishermen. After yanking them out of the sea they watch the group of fishermen perform some sea shanties for a crowd, one of the producers dares Danny to try and get them to sign a record deal, of course this was a prank, and when he walks off to chat with the singing seadogs his dump his bags and drive off leaving him stranded in Cornwall.

He talks with the fishermen who laugh in his face when he tries to tell them he can give them a record deal. But one of them, Jago, sees something in this but Jim, played by James Purefoy, is skeptical. Danny then has to convince Jim and his daughter Alwyn, played by Tuppence Middleton, that this band can go places.

Now this is part where I warn of spoilers, if you care about then watch the film then come back here.

So with this being a feelgood British film a few things are bound to happen, one is the trip, in this film after accepting the record deal the fishermen take a trip to London with Danny, Jago and the others end up in a trendy London bar where they get a bunch of hipsters to sing Drunken Sailor. Shortly after this Jago passes away at home leaving the band without its heart, we also learn that the local pub is going to have to be put on sale, Danny tries to help but winds up making things worse when he tells a rich developer about it. The fishermen aren't happy with this which brings us into a rather contrived third act. Danny is cast out of the community he joined and returns to London where a montage set to sad music shows us he's had a change of heart and now much like the fishermen he values friendship and community over wealth and success.

He drives back to Cornwall in an attempt to make it up to the fishermen and to get back with Alwyn (Because of course they fell in love). He arrives back in time to tell the band that he's stopped the deal on the pub and that nothing will change. At this point the top 40 comes on the radio and the fishermen learn that their album consisting of nothing more than traditional sea shanties has entered the top 10.

So that was fishermen's friends and well, what did you expect? This is a typical feel good British film with beautiful Cornwall featured in all its glory, yes there are issues, the entire third act could have been avoided if Danny talked with the fishermen but I digress. Its not trying to be a masterpiece. But if you want a film which can make you smile and maybe sing along then this is worth a watch.