Mac Macintyre (Peter Riegert) is an ambitious comer at Knox Industries, a Texas oil company. His boss Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) dispatches Mac to Ferness, a small Scottish seaside village, in hopes. Along with local (Peter Capaldi) Mac sets out to woo locals, only to find them (and the townspeople) suspicious. But Mac and quickly fall for the small village, whose inhabitants seem to exist outside the pettiness of modern life.
Local Hero's charm is simple but undeniable. A very humanist drama, it emphasizes Ferness's mollifying effects on everyone. Mac starts out as a budding Gordon Gekko, cold towards people and eager to succeed ("I'm more of a telex man," he repeatedly insists), but quickly thaws after arriving in Scotland. Locals like landowner Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay) stonewall him with simple logic: no amount of money can persuade them to abandon ancestral homes. Even Happer is more figure of fun (subjected to endless taunts by a "therapist") than outright villain; his obsession with astronomy proves plot convenient. In approved sitcom fashion, Danny crafts a solution that satisfies everyone.
It's a set up from a million old-school melodramas, yet Local Hero mostly avoids the obvious trappings. Forsyth shows an agreeably down-to-earth sensibility, crafting a dozen charming vignettes. Mac and Danny board with Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson), who makes love to his wife over lunch and cooks Mac's pet rabbit for dinner. The local priest (Christopher Asante), an African missionary, explains the town's attraction. Mac and the locals befriend a rival Russian investor (Christopher Roszycki) over karaoke. Adorably awkward Danny spends his free time pursuing a Marine biologist (Jenny Seagrove).
Forsyth skillfully interweaves slice of life with fairy tale trappings. Ferness is one of those mythic Celtic towns like Brigadoon or Innisfree where outsiders can forget their materialist troubles, being embraced by hearty salt-of-the-earth types. Even its atmospheric phenomena - comets and aurora borealis - signals a place beyond the mundane, further highlighted by Mark Knopfler's quietly triumphant score. Hero's definitely a fantasy, but an immensely comforting one.
Peter Riegert does well as the corporate cynic charmed by village life. Burt Lancaster chews scenery in an agreeably self-effacing turn (one recalls, perhaps unintentionally, his star-obsessed aristocrat in The Leopard). Peter Capaldi (In the Loop) makes an effortlessly charming sidekick. Jenny Seagrove is the charming lass who woos Danny; Christopher Asante is the befuddled local minister; Denis Lawson and Fulton Mackay the most hostile villagers.
Local Hero makes pleasant viewing. Its cult status is well-deserved; you don't begrudge a movie predictability when it's done this well.
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