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Local Hero

  • 1983
  • PG
  • 1h 51m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
28K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,347
862
Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert in Local Hero (1983)
An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.
193
 
Play trailer2:25
193
1 Video
65 Photos
ComedyDrama

An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.

  • Director
    • Bill Forsyth
  • Writer
    • Bill Forsyth
  • Stars
    • Burt Lancaster
    • Peter Riegert
    • Fulton Mackay
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    28K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    4,347
    862
    • Director
      • Bill Forsyth
    • Writer
      • Bill Forsyth
    • Stars
      • Burt Lancaster
      • Peter Riegert
      • Fulton Mackay
    STREAMING
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    • 277User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
    • 84Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 BAFTA Award
      • 4 wins & 6 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:25
    Official Trailer
    193

    Photos65

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    Top cast45

    Edit
    Burt Lancaster
    Burt Lancaster
    • Felix Happer
    Peter Riegert
    Peter Riegert
    • Mac
    Fulton Mackay
    Fulton Mackay
    • Ben Knox
    Denis Lawson
    Denis Lawson
    • Gordon Urquhart
    Norman Chancer
    Norman Chancer
    • Moritz
    Peter Capaldi
    Peter Capaldi
    • Oldsen
    Rikki Fulton
    • Geddes
    Alex Norton
    Alex Norton
    • Watt
    Jenny Seagrove
    Jenny Seagrove
    • Marina
    Jennifer Black
    • Stella Urquhart
    Christopher Rozycki
    Christopher Rozycki
    • Victor
    Gyearbuor Asante
    Gyearbuor Asante
    • Rev Macpherson
    • (as Christopher Asante)
    John M. Jackson
    John M. Jackson
    • Cal
    • (as John Jackson)
    Dan Ammerman
    Dan Ammerman
    • Donaldson
    Tam Dean Burn
    • Roddy
    Luke Coulter
    • Baby
    Karen Douglas
    • Mrs Wyatt
    Kenny Ireland
    Kenny Ireland
    • Skipper
    • Director
      • Bill Forsyth
    • Writer
      • Bill Forsyth
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews277

    7.328.2K
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    Featured reviews

    howard.schumann

    Offbeat humor and charm

    In Local Hero, Scottish director Bill Forsyth allows us to see the environment not as something to possess or control but as a privilege granted to all. A young corporate executive for a Texas Oil Company, Mac MacIntyre (Peter Reigert), is sent to a small fishing village on the coast of Scotland to work out plans to buy a piece of coastal property that includes the entire town as a drilling site. The great Burt Lancaster plays Mac's boss, Felix Happer, a starry-eyed tycoon of Knox Gas and Oil who is more interested in the stars and getting rid of Moritz (Norman Chancer), his "abuse therapist" than his business. Strangely, he asks Mac to keep an eye on the constellation Virgo when he reaches Scotland to see if he can see a comet in its vicinity.

    MacIntyre meets up with his Scottish partner Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi) and they rent a room at an inn run by the local accountant Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) and his wife Stella (Jennifer Black). Eventually, Mac and Danny settle in and get to know the town, walking the beach, talking to the black pastor of the village church, and meeting the idiosyncratic villagers. Mac slowly and without any expectations develops an attachment to the town and its people while Danny falls for Marina (Jenny Seagrove), a marine biologist with webbed feet who dreams of building a laboratory for biological research.

    When Urquhart agrees to act as the intermediary between MacIntyre and the locals in the negotiations, we are set up to expect the ruthless exploitation of country folk by the big city capitalists. Ironically however, it is the villagers who are captivated by the prospect of the money and more aggressive in its pursuit than Big Mac. The deal seems ready to be consummated when it is discovered that Old Ben (Fulton MacKay), who lives in a shack on the beach, actually owns six miles of beach property and does not want to sell. When the townspeople threaten to turn into an ugly mob, Happer arrives from Houston in his helicopter to add the final twist to a most unpredictable plot.

    Local Hero creeps up on you slowly then delivers its payoff so convincingly that, by the end, you feel as if you have a lifelong relationship with the characters. Mac's transformation from being a corporate sycophant to a caring individual who experiences a sense of belonging, perhaps for the first time, is one of the great pleasures of the film and reminded me of a similar transformation in Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us. Supported by a wonderful score by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and beautifully photographed by Chris Menges, the film captivates with its offbeat humor and charm and reminds us of what it means to be human without resorting to sentimentality. If technology is seen as an imminent threat to humans, Local Hero allows us to focus our attention upon that which is most threatened: respect for people's individuality, reverence for the land, the sea, and the sky -- and really good Scotch whiskey.
    bucksix

    It never fails to get to me

    All of the previous reviews of this wonderful movie have said it all. I just want to add that every time I've

    seen it (and believe me that is a large number) I get choked up. In fact reading the reviews gives me the same feeling.

    I find it impossible to understand the view point of those who pan this movie because of lack of plot or satisfying ending. They would throw out most of Shakespeare

    because plot was always secondary to characterization in his

    works.

    I heartily reccomend Local Hero to anyone with a heart.

    It will be touched
    10Maryte

    Pure magic...

    I have no idea what provoked me to see this film in the theatre lo those many years ago, but I am grateful to the serendipity which has brought this piece of magic into my life. I am constantly amazed that a piece of fiction (and not even a written one) could have such an impact on my heart and soul.

    From the edgy humor of Happer's encounters with his analyst (I will always consider this to be Mr. Lancaster's most charming performance in a body of excellent work) to the poignant scene in which (an albeit drunken) Mac confesses his coveting Gordon's life, this film draws me in like no other. Whenever I am asked my favorite film, I answer Local Hero without hesitation - there is never a question of its position on my list.

    I must confess, I am surprised there are no other reviews of Local Hero by women. I've always found the lyrical nature of the film to have a distinctly female sensibility. But on the other hand, I don't know any other women beyond myself who have seen it (or recall having seen it). The best recommendation I can make for this film is, when I find the world closing in on me, I watch Local Hero. I smile. I laugh. I even cry a bit. But most importantly, I come away knowing that I might someday find that very possible magic in my life.
    loydmooney

    wonderful

    Oddly enough, from the comments thus far about the film, nobody, as in not a single viewer, has commented on the absolutely stunning performance by Peter Riegert. It is the best of right on low key performances of all time: if somebody told him that leprosy had just overtaken the island he might have batted one eyelash. Yet no matter how low the key it is never off key. And yes, yes, it has a lot of other things going for it, but nothing like his performance. Somehow the director got the right guy for the job, so much so, that it is impossible to conjure anybody in all Hollywood that could have done so well. Moreover, the movie moves about him so tightly, and he takes the load so effortlessly, it is almost not surprising that nobody has noticed just how good he is here. In fact were there even a smidgen of fireworks from him, this would just be another movie. Time is gonna treat this film very well, when ninety percent of most films are forgotten, this will continue to rise in the ranks of the remembered.
    poldy112358

    nothing else like it

    There's the great movies with a capital "M" (Casablanca, Strangelove, Kane) and then there's the great movies which feel like they've been made for the deepest, quietest, quirkiest parts of you and you alone - the small gems. And this one, in my view, is the sparkliest of these gems - a little masterpiece of a rumination on just how beautiful things can be when disparate paths in life intercept each other just the tiniest bit out of phase, never perfectly according to plan, and on how the deepest transformations seem to proceed from the smallest disjoints of orientation and expectation. It is a beautiful dollhouse of a film, whose success lies in its excruciating attention to and understatement of detail. Beautiful Mark Knopler strains suffuse the film's quieter moments, while subtle performances and simply lovely dialogue provide the backbone.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      After the movie came out, many people went in search of the village with the red phone booth. It can be found in the village of Pennan on the Moray Coast, Scotland.
    • Goofs
      Marina and Danny are looking at what Marina says are grey seals but which are Californian fur seals, which aren't native to Scotland.
    • Quotes

      [approaching Ben's beach shanty]

      Victor: Where's the door here?

      Urquhart: There is no door. Just knock on the window.

      Mac: Jesus, how do you do business with someone who doesn't have a door?

      Victor: The ethics are just the same.

    • Alternate versions
      CBS edited 14 minutes from this film for its 1987 network television premiere.
    • Connections
      Featured in Century of Cinema: A Personal History of British Cinema by Stephen Frears (1995)
    • Soundtracks
      Local Hero
      by Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits)

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    FAQ20

    • How long is Local Hero?Powered by Alexa
    • What type a Royal Air Force fighter-bombers were those in the movie?
    • What is the name of the theme song -written by Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits)?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 29, 1983 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Місцевий герой
    • Filming locations
      • Pennan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK(Ferness - includes red phone box)
    • Production companies
      • Enigma Productions
      • Goldcrest Films International
      • Celandine Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • £3,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $5,895,761
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $23,567
      • Feb 21, 1983
    • Gross worldwide
      • $5,998,640
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 51 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Contribute to this page

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    Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert in Local Hero (1983)
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