Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Inadvands Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

tom-durham "Local hero" I felt it was really a weak exploration of a Scottish village with an ending that made absolutely no sense. What hero?Instead of a strong plot with tension and release, it felt like the movie stumbled around a field dodging cow pats, finally heading towards an exit until all of a sudden it starts hallucinating, trips over and lands face first in a steamy pile of horse manure. If you just want to see a Scottish village then maybe you will enjoy it.The spoilers here mainly relate to main plot and the nonsensical ending, and don't discuss the Scottish village. So I hope that if you still decide to see the movie after reading this review, it will spare you the disappointment of the terrible ending.***PLOT OUTLINE (MINOR SPOILERS)***The main plot consists of an oil company trying to buy a piece of Scotland so they can drill for oil. They describe how don't have much money to pull it off this time (so expensive fantasies are surely out of the question?).So throughout the movie you wonder if/where it will come unstuck:Will the villagers will oppose the destruction of area? Will the villagers not want to sell? Will the villagers want too much? Will environmentalists oppose the oil platform? Although all these questions are explored I felt there was only serious tension in the third one.And then the movie quickly ends in the most unlikely way...*** MAJOR SPOILERS & PLOT TWIST ENDING ****Finally after over an hour something happens.We have a hold out. In this area, magically the aeroplanes that bomb the beach next to the village have disappeared. Serene and peaceful all of a sudden in the evening light. Yet negotiations don't seem impossible...Enter the eccentric manager/CEO! Lets get a deal going and let the credits roll!Er. no. I like plot twists, but can you believe that the eccentric manager decides to build offshore, and wants to waste money on an observatory, and then the second salesman pipes up 'can you build a fish farm(?) for this hot lady down the beach so I can get into her pants?'. Everyone cringes and the manager says 'What a fantastic idea! Lets do it!'. The movie quickly turns into a mush about the salesman for the last couple of minutes, it was so bad I could barely watch it (nothing to do with fish lady) and the credits roll.Unfortunately we don't get to see the part where the board of directors fires the manager for wasting money, the villagers unhappy because they aren't paid, and nothing is built because the hold out didn't sell.

SnoopyStyle Oil billionaire Happer (Burt Lancaster) sends "Mac" MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) from Houston to remote Scotish village Ferness to secure a bay to build a terminal for the North Atlantic oil fields. His family is not actually Scotish and he'd rather do the deal through fax. Once there, local rep Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi) teams up with him. They meet marine biologist Marina (Jenny Seagrove) and Danny falls for her. The locals led by Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) team up to negotiate a deal as Mac tries to adjust to the town. Then Gordon discovers that beachcomber Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay) actually owns the beach that is integral to the deal.It's a quirky little quiet Brit indie. My major problem is Peter Riegert. He's a great character actor but he can't really pull off a lead. It's also odd that he's not the one with the romance. Meanwhile Burt Lancaster is back in Houston for most of the movie. I think it would be interesting to have him in the town much more. This has a cast of slightly off characters but they aren't so quirky as to be funny. I just find the movie to be a slow moving bore with characters that I don't connect with. Everything is done with such a light touch that nothing is really ever intense.

eternal-finale123 Local Hero has been one of my favourite films for years, and will always remain so. And it's nice to see how many of the reviews on here are positive as well. This is such an understated (and often misunderstood) film. The main thing to say: all those people complaining that the film is really slow and doesn't seem to go anywhere, clearly you've never lived in a small village. It's a pretty much perfect depiction of life in such a place. Nothing really happens, and it's all very sleepy. That's the whole point of the film! The acting may not be overly theatrical, but again that's the point. The script doesn't really leave room for grand performances, and so everything is kept on a very real level. It's true, the comedy is very subtle and some moments can easily be glossed over and missed. But the gentle nature of this film is part of its charm. The story itself is also gentle and takes its time. Just let it wash over you and you'll be swept away in no time. The director certainly did a good job of utilising the stunning locations, and the shots of the beach are just incredible. And I have to tip my hat to Mark Knopfler as well. This has to be one of my favourite soundtracks of all time. If you're inherently a city person and can't fathom the attraction of the country, this may not be the film for you. But to anyone else out there who's not seen Local Hero, I highly recommend it.

catey-49 One of my all-time favorite movies. Such a sweet, gentle tale with an incredible Mark Knopfler soundtrack. The scene at the end where Mac is back in Houston with all the city noises, posting his pictures in his kitchen and then phoning Furness, reminded me of how I feel every time I come home from Scotland. Timeless and magical. The scene where the pastor distracts Mac while the whole village runs from the church after their meeting is so funny....the whole idea of the village fleecing the big oil company exec who thinks he's fleecing them is wonderful. Little details, like Mac almost getting run over by the same motorcycle every time he sets foot onto the street, and Mac's increasingly casual clothes and the fact that he doesn't even notice when his high-tech watch ends up in a tidal pool, are priceless.