Fisherman's Friends (film)

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.

Fisherman's Friends
Directed by	Chris Foggin
Written by	Nick Moorcroft Meg Leonard Piers Ashworth
Produced by	Nick Moorcroft Meg Leonard James Spring
Starring	Daniel Mays James Purefoy David Hayman Dave Johns Sam Swainsbury Tuppence Middleton Noel Clarke
Cinematography	Simon Tindall
Edited by	Johnny Daukes
Music by	Rupert Christie
Production companies	Head Gear Films Powder Keg Pictures Fred Films Kreo Films Legacy Metrol Technology BondIt Media Capital
Distributed by	Entertainment Film Distributors
Release date	15 March 2019 (2019-03-15) (United Kingdom)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$11,647,462[1]

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]

The film stars Daniel Mays, James Purefoy, David Hayman, Dave Johns, Sam Swainsbury, Tuppence Middleton, Noel Clarke, Christian Brassington, Maggie Steed and Jade Anouka.

Plot

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.

Cast in contractual order

• Daniel Mays as Danny
• James Purefoy as Jim
• David Hayman as Jago
• Dave Johns as Leadville
• Sam Swainsbury as Rowan
• Tuppence Middleton as Alwyn
• Noel Clarke as Troy
• Christian Brassington as Henry
• Maggie Steed as Maggie
• Vahid Gold as Driss
• Jo Hart as Journalist
• Julian Seager as Treive
• Christopher Villiers as Charles Montague
• Charlotte Baker as Abigail
• Meadow Nobrega as Tamsyn
• Jade Anouka as Leah
• Ashley Bannerman as Nurse

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]

Track listing:

1. Keep Hauling
2. Nelson's Blood
3. John Kanaka
4. The Coast of High Barbaree
5. South Australia
6. Little Liz I Love You
7. Widow Woman
8. Le Capitaine de San Malo
9. Blow the Man Down
10. Shanty Man
11. Oh You New York Girls
12. The 'Trelawny' National Anthem
13. The Leaving Shanty
14. No Hopers, Jokers & Rogues
15. Fisherman's Blues
16. (What Shall We Do with the) Drunken Sailor
17. Union of Different Kinds

Stage musical adaptation

Main article: Fisherman's Friends: The Musical

A stage musical called Fisherman's Friends: The Musical, based on the band's true story and the 2019 film, made its world premiere at the Hall for Cornwall in Truro in October 2021, written by Brad Birch and directed by James Grieve.^[8]

Sequel

A sequel, about the band singing at Glastonbury, was released on 19 August 2022. The film is called Fisherman's Friends: One and All.^[9]