Fisherman's Friends 2 - hardly needed, but enjoyable all the same

Fisherman's Friends: One And All (12A), (112 mins)
Fisherman's Friends: One and All. Pictured: Cast of Fisherman's Friends: One and AllFisherman's Friends: One and All. Pictured: Cast of Fisherman's Friends: One and All
Fisherman's Friends: One and All. Pictured: Cast of Fisherman's Friends: One and All

Does the world really, truly need a Fisherman’s Friends sequel? Probably not – in the way that very very, few sequels ever actually prove worth making.

But in a pretty barren summer of cinema, Fisherman's Friends: One And All is perfectly watchable – especially after it has shaken off a fairly lame start.

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And there’s something really rather enjoyable about being back in the company of the Fisherman’s Friends, even if this is a film which for the most part really seems to struggle to find its story.

We get a bit of everything.

We’ve got a dead dad who keeps joining in with the singing; we’ve got a little bit of marital disharmony; we’ve got a down-the-mines emergency rescue; and we’ve got rock ‘n’ roll misbehaviour, a few digs at PC-ness, a bit of farm versus sea antagonism and a steadily-growinig romance.

And crucially, we’ve even also got a lengthy discussion as to whether the cream goes under or on top of the jam when you’re prepping your scones.

The result is a story which really doesn’t get into its groove until we are well into things, but once it finally does start to come together, it genuinely adds up to one of the better films in a disappointingly threadbare summer.

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The first film, which probably ought to have been left to stand alone, tells the tale of a bunch of shantymen who were discovered by accident and delivered from obscurity to become recording and concert stars.

Film number two picks it up as they lapse into crisis. The record label is having doubts about their dodgy, unsophisticated behaviour; but really it’s the tale of Jim (James Purefoy) hitting the bottle and going off the rails after his father’s death.

Suddenly he’s at odds with everyone, particularly the singing farmer they recruit into their ranks. After a public outburst from Jim, the Fisherman’s Friends are dropped by their label – and Jim heads home to lick his wounds. Instead, he finds something rather sweet with Aubrey Flynn (Imelda May), a former singer who’s managed to find peace after battling her own demons. And this is where the film finally gets into its stride after scratching around for far too long.

The opening half an hour or so is pretty weak – and you really feel the absence of Daniel Mays as Danny and Tuppence Middleton as Alwyn, so much the heart of the first film. This time round, they are absent for their own reasons, an absence slightly feebly explained away as “Oh! They’ve gone off to Australia.”

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Fair enough that they couldn’t make the gig, but frequently resorting to Jim’s dead dad appearing beside him gives the film a mawkishness it doesn’t need.

But slowly we start to root for Jim in his new and rather unlikely role as the romantic lead, and May is excellent as the one-time star who’s learnt her lessons and is now well placed to share her new-found stability.

By the end, you’ll walk out considering it a couple of hours reasonably well spent; and by the look of the trailers which preceded it, thank goodness it seems we are heading into better waters with the range of movies just about sail onto our horizons. Who knows, Fisherman’s Friends might just prove to be the turning of the tide when it comes to cinema-going.

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