LOCAL HERO Movie Review
Mac (Peter Riegert) is an up-and-coming Texas oil company executive whose boss (Burt Lancaster) sends him to Scotland to acquire a prize piece of coastal property—which includes an entire town—as an oil drilling site. As Mac settles in and meets the locals, making them cash offers they're hard-pressed to refuse, he finds himself attached to the place in ways that he never expected—and some of the townspeople begin to feel the same way about him. As charming as Local Hero's plot turns out to be, it's only half the story; the beauty of Bill Forsyth's film is that Mac's strange new love of the place and his intoxicating, first-time sensation of belonging somewhere are depicted by the director without ever resorting to obvious or cheap sentimentality. Mac's enchantment with his new-found world is fully felt and so delicately delineated that months after seeing the movie you don't just remember it fondly, you feel nostalgic for it—as if the film itself were a place you've visited and dream of getting back to (this mirrors the final moments of the movie). Wondrous little moments remain in your head—a visiting Russian sings a sweet, unexpected song at a local dance; Mac discovers the pleasures of really good Scotch; an injured rabbit's shocking fate is suddenly discovered; a phone booth takes on spiritual importance. Forsyth constructs a classic fable out of such small details, and it's presented in such an unforced, gently persuasive fashion that you can't see how he does it. As in any great act of magic, that's part of the appeal. Photographed by Chris Menges, and featuring a perfectly elegant score by Mark Knopfler.
NEXT STOP … Comfort and Joy, Housekeeping, I Know Where I'm Going
1983 (PG) 112m/C GB Peter Riegert, Denis Lawson, Burt Lancaster, Fulton Mackay, Jenny Seagrove, Peter Capaldi, Norman Chancer; D: Bill Forsyth; W: Bill Forsyth; C: Chris Menges; M: Mark Knopfler. British Academy Awards '83: Best Director (Forsyth); New York Film Critics Awards '83: Best Screenplay; National Society of Film Critics Awards '83: Best Screenplay. VHS, LV, Closed Caption WAR