Fisherman’s Friends: One and All – Review

A couple years later, two of the original three writers directed this sequel, with the same trio of writers penning the script. How does it compare? Is it a worthy follow-up? Should you spend time with it? Decide for yourself, but here’s a bit about it.

Our Fisherman’s Friends singing group is on a bus tour. They have some new cover songs, and new originals to hit the crowds with. After a few stops, they just want to go home, and bus back to Port Isaac. A few of the missing stars are Jim’s (Purefoy) daughter Alwyn and her beau Danny, who are conveniently in the Outback for a week on their honeymoon.

Tourism is up to the small port town, which is too much for some of the singing group who just want to return to a normal life. There is also additional interest from record labels, journalists, and new singers wanting to wind up as the 10^th “Friend” in the band. Will the band be able to beat out the sophomore curse and create a good second album? Will they find another singer for their group, or will tryouts drive them insane? And what about the Glastonbury Festival? It was mentioned during the first film’s ending text, so we must assume it happens here. And it does. Spoiler, I guess? But not really?

This film may be a decent example of a sequel that did not need to be made. It’s not terrible, but it definitely has less steam going than the first did, mostly running on fumes. While the original writers did the script for this film, it just didn’t have as much ground to cover and this leads to an even more basic story and generic follow-up. There is a bit of humor, and the characters get a touch of adversary and growth, however some of the charm is gone. That could be that the original director did not return, or it could have been the script, or both. I am sure the studio liked the idea of making more money, so maybe there was a corporate push.

The acting is fine, and the songs presented are very listenable, but it’s hard to feel like this isn’t just more of the same, with less stakes and lower interest. It’s not poorly done, but it feels a bit flat and a touch forced. While reviewers didn’t give it very high marks, this ultimately doesn’t matter and you should decide for yourself.

The positives are that there are still some nice small-town friendship themes, some nice scenes and genuine characters, along with a few good jokes and some fine acting. Like the first, this is a mostly harmless film with some feel-good moments. The experience may not reach the high notes of the first, but it’s decent enough to watch if you absolutely loved the first one, as long as you go in with lower expectations.