Review for Fisherman's Friends

Fisherman's Friends tells the incredible true story about how a group of men who fished by day and sang old Cornish Folk songs in their spare time became a musical sensation. It is so bizarre a story it must be true.

Danny is a musical executive out on his friend's stag do in Cornwall when they encounter the Fisherman's Friends a group of local townsfolk singing old sea shanties and songs. Troy assigns Danny to sign the group and he is left there to seal the deal. After working hard to gain the groups agreement and trust, especially the leader Jim, whose daughter Alwyn, Danny has fallen in love with.

Once doing this, he sets about recording them only to be told that it was just a prank by his Boss. Danny then takes it upon himself to take the band to London and sell them to the world. This leads to a great deal of mishaps, betrayals and singing which leads to Danny seeing that musical taste cannot be dictated by demographics and charts, but by heart and soul.

I absolutely loved this film. It was one of the few films of the year I made a point of watching in the cinema and was overjoyed at getting the chance to watch again. The whole premise is absurd, but I wouldn't have expected anything less. The film feels authentic through and through and though some of the miming was a little obvious, the acting by everyone was just fantastic. If you had told me the band were played by the real people I would have believed you and there is a warm hearted bond that you can feel from everyone.

Daniel Mays as Danny is almost in a Hugh Grant style role which was great and it was nice to see him something that isn't just a gritty Eastend drama. The rest of the cast is perfect with James Purefoy as the grumpy Jim a perfect stoic character and Tuppence Middleton absolutely adorable as his daughter.

I was overwhelmed by how great the music was and I was convinced this could not be real, but was surprised to find a number of Top 10-30 albums. If you enjoyed the music in the film I would recommend it and the soundtrack 'Keep Hauling' is fantastic.

It is a shame that there are so few extras on the set and I was hoping that they would have included more from the real band. The only things included are two short featurette. One a Behind the Scenes one and one a Cannes Video Diary. Neither are really worth watching and this is a shame.

This was a charming British film. The kind of film we expect to come out of the British Indie scene and it is a shame that they are so few and far between. Every now and then there comes a film that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. This is that film and it is definitely one to sing to your friends about.