Fisherman's Friends is a 2019 British comedy-drama film directed by Chris Foggin from a screenplay by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth.
The film was inspired by a true story about Fisherman's Friends, a group of Cornish fishermen from Port Isaac who were signed by Universal Records and achieved a top 10 hit with their debut album of traditional sea shanties.[2]
A fast living, cynical London music executive, Danny, reluctantly heads to Cornwall on his colleague Henry's stag weekend, where he's pranked by his boss, Troy, into trying to sign a group of shanty-singing fishermen. Danny becomes the ultimate ‘fish out of water’, struggling to gain the respect and enthusiasm of the unlikely boy band that consists of Jim, Jago, Leadville and Rowan, who all value friendship and community over fame and fortune. Attempting to overcome the fishermen's scepticism about the music business, Danny finds himself drawn into the community, has his integrity tested and ultimately is shown the meaning of loyalty, love and friendship. This forces Danny to re-evaluate what really matters in life, ultimately giving him the chance of a different kind of success which leads to him falling in love with Jim's daughter, Alwyn.
Two-Michelin-starred Port Isaac chef Nathan Outlaw has a cameo role as a man who has unwisely parked his car where the tide can swamp it.[3]
Production
The Golden Lion doubled as the village pub owned by Rowan
Filming commenced on 30 April 2018 on location in Port Isaac, Cornwall, and London for five weeks.[4] All members of the band have cameos in the film and worked as consultants on the film.
Reception
Box office
The film was released on 503 screens on 15 March 2019 in the United Kingdom and debuted at #2 in the UK Box office chart, grossing $1,534,908 in its opening weekend behind global box office phenomenon Captain Marvel. The film was #3 in its second weekend taking $1,285,332. The film was #4 in its third weekend taking $820,293. As of Friday 10 May 2020, the film had grossed $11,553,041.
Controversy
Noel Clarke was credited on the UK poster but his image was not featured. Writing on Twitter, Clarke said "not one of these other actors spoke up for me when I was left off the poster".[5]
However, Clarke was the following year subject of allegations of bullying and sexual harassment. He maintains he was misrepresented and the police state there were no complaints to them.[6] A defamation case against The Guardian is pending.
Soundtrack
Island Records released the film's original soundtrack titled Keep Hauling - Music From The Movie on 15 March 2019.[7]
