Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
Local Hero
March 8th 2010 08:47
by Matt Shea
Over the past 25 years it’s been difficult to find a critic who hasn’t been kind to Local Hero. Littered with quirk and charm, and featuring one of the most well-known motion picture scores in modern history, it’s easy to give the film a free ticket.
But it can also be a work difficult to recommend unreservedly. Bill Forsyth directed from his own screenplay, and Local Hero’s success is often laid at his feet, but the film is almost more typical of producer David Puttnam’s oeuvre. Puttnam made a habit in the early 80s of taking pictures that shouldn’t have worked (Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields) and delivering critical and popular hits. Local Hero is such film, laden with so many daft scenes and characters it should have been a train wreck. And yet it somehow manages to more-or-less work, even if in the great hall of cinema history it remains a little overrated.
Knox Oil and Gas is looking to expand its business, and in the sites of Houston-based company is a rich oil field off the north coast of Scotland. To make the move economical the company needs a refinery on the shore, but sitting in the prime spot is the small village of Ferness.
Eccentric chief of the company, Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) dispatches ace dealmaker Mac (Peter Riegert) to secure the property rights of Ferness at virtually any price. Mac’s a man used to the cut and thrust of business, but is more comfortable sitting in the Knox’s glass obelisk wringing the telex than actually travelling to proposed sites. Once in Ferness, however, the gentle, wistful rhythms of village life begin to work away at the young exec, and soon he finds himself questioning whether he wants to close the deal at all.
So rolls what is essentially a ‘fish out of water’ comedy, albeit one with layer upon layer of obscure humour and flight of fancy built on top. The entirety of Local Hero has the feel of a delirious dream, a move that undeniably adds to its charm but also throws up so many ideas that some of them can’t help but fall flat, and others plainly get in the way of the story being told.
Some of the more enjoyable cinematic ticks include Happer’s obsession with astronomy, the Ferness villagers’ endless variety of jobs, a beautiful marine biologist who seems to be turning into a mermaid, a dangerously ever present trail bike rider and an African minister named MacPherson. They’re all humorous elements and undoubtedly contribute to Local Hero’s intention of putting both Mac and the audience slightly left of their comfort zone.
Still, despite its rich streak of engaging moments, Local Hero sometimes drifts towards the self-indulgent and downright confusing.
The film’s obsession with bizarre characters is frustrating, Happer’s of-the-wall psychiatrist and Ferness’s visiting Russian investor both being elements that should have been discarded, while the romantic interests of Mac and sidekick Scot, Danny (Peter Capaldi), make little sense the way they’ve been edited. The film cheats the audience out of a climax, too, when Happer comes to Ferness to negotiate a stubborn sticking point in Mac’s proposed deal.
But when Local Hero does hit its marks it’s hard to argue with the results. For starters, the film features a brilliantly efficient setup and a sublime closing sequence (which, incidentally, was an occasion when the studio bods stepping in produced a superior result).
The players are excellent also. Riegert makes an engaging straight man, while Capaldi -- recently seen doing his best take on Alistair Campbell in In the Loop -- excels as his dorky right-hander. Denis Lawson is supremely confident as innkeeper-accountant Urquhart, while Lancaster channels the nutty authority of so many of his past characters (particularly Seven Days in May’s General Scott).
Of course, running through it all is Mark Knopfler’s sparkling, ethereal and quietly spectacular score. The immediately recognisable progressions are almost too good for the picture they’re laced to – Local Hero certainly wouldn’t be the same without them.
This is a film that should be approached with little in the way of expectations – it’s just too obscure for first-timers to know what they’re getting into. But despite its faults, you can’t help but admit Local Hero strikes a very impressive balance, and most complaints could easily be buried under the bucket loads of charm it swings your way. Watch and enjoy; just don’t inspect the fine details too closely.
I say: An undeniably odd film that somehow works. Overrated, but worth checking out if you can curb your expectations.
See it for: Even if nothing else about the film does it for you, Knopfler’s score almost certainly will.
*This image is from Presented
Over the past 25 years it’s been difficult to find a critic who hasn’t been kind to Local Hero. Littered with quirk and charm, and featuring one of the most well-known motion picture scores in modern history, it’s easy to give the film a free ticket.
But it can also be a work difficult to recommend unreservedly. Bill Forsyth directed from his own screenplay, and Local Hero’s success is often laid at his feet, but the film is almost more typical of producer David Puttnam’s oeuvre. Puttnam made a habit in the early 80s of taking pictures that shouldn’t have worked (Chariots of Fire, The Killing Fields) and delivering critical and popular hits. Local Hero is such film, laden with so many daft scenes and characters it should have been a train wreck. And yet it somehow manages to more-or-less work, even if in the great hall of cinema history it remains a little overrated.
Knox Oil and Gas is looking to expand its business, and in the sites of Houston-based company is a rich oil field off the north coast of Scotland. To make the move economical the company needs a refinery on the shore, but sitting in the prime spot is the small village of Ferness.
Eccentric chief of the company, Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster) dispatches ace dealmaker Mac (Peter Riegert) to secure the property rights of Ferness at virtually any price. Mac’s a man used to the cut and thrust of business, but is more comfortable sitting in the Knox’s glass obelisk wringing the telex than actually travelling to proposed sites. Once in Ferness, however, the gentle, wistful rhythms of village life begin to work away at the young exec, and soon he finds himself questioning whether he wants to close the deal at all.
So rolls what is essentially a ‘fish out of water’ comedy, albeit one with layer upon layer of obscure humour and flight of fancy built on top. The entirety of Local Hero has the feel of a delirious dream, a move that undeniably adds to its charm but also throws up so many ideas that some of them can’t help but fall flat, and others plainly get in the way of the story being told.
Some of the more enjoyable cinematic ticks include Happer’s obsession with astronomy, the Ferness villagers’ endless variety of jobs, a beautiful marine biologist who seems to be turning into a mermaid, a dangerously ever present trail bike rider and an African minister named MacPherson. They’re all humorous elements and undoubtedly contribute to Local Hero’s intention of putting both Mac and the audience slightly left of their comfort zone.
Still, despite its rich streak of engaging moments, Local Hero sometimes drifts towards the self-indulgent and downright confusing.
The film’s obsession with bizarre characters is frustrating, Happer’s of-the-wall psychiatrist and Ferness’s visiting Russian investor both being elements that should have been discarded, while the romantic interests of Mac and sidekick Scot, Danny (Peter Capaldi), make little sense the way they’ve been edited. The film cheats the audience out of a climax, too, when Happer comes to Ferness to negotiate a stubborn sticking point in Mac’s proposed deal.
But when Local Hero does hit its marks it’s hard to argue with the results. For starters, the film features a brilliantly efficient setup and a sublime closing sequence (which, incidentally, was an occasion when the studio bods stepping in produced a superior result).
The players are excellent also. Riegert makes an engaging straight man, while Capaldi -- recently seen doing his best take on Alistair Campbell in In the Loop -- excels as his dorky right-hander. Denis Lawson is supremely confident as innkeeper-accountant Urquhart, while Lancaster channels the nutty authority of so many of his past characters (particularly Seven Days in May’s General Scott).
Of course, running through it all is Mark Knopfler’s sparkling, ethereal and quietly spectacular score. The immediately recognisable progressions are almost too good for the picture they’re laced to – Local Hero certainly wouldn’t be the same without them.
This is a film that should be approached with little in the way of expectations – it’s just too obscure for first-timers to know what they’re getting into. But despite its faults, you can’t help but admit Local Hero strikes a very impressive balance, and most complaints could easily be buried under the bucket loads of charm it swings your way. Watch and enjoy; just don’t inspect the fine details too closely.
I say: An undeniably odd film that somehow works. Overrated, but worth checking out if you can curb your expectations.
See it for: Even if nothing else about the film does it for you, Knopfler’s score almost certainly will.
*This image is from Presented
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