Where to watch Local Hero online

Storyline

An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.

Released

1983-02-17
Revenue

$5,900,000
Budget

$4,200,000
Runtime

1hr 51m
Genre

Comedy, Drama
Status

Released
Language

日本語, Pусский, English
7.3
Production

Enigma Productions, Goldcrest, Film4 Productions, Celandine Films

Crew

Bill Forsyth

Director

Bill Forsyth

Screenplay

David Puttnam

Producer

Keywords:

small town petrol scotland village life village houston, texas oil rabbit millionaire black gold seaside town aurora borealis

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Cast

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Local Hero

A Review by Geronimo1967 7

Written by Geronimo1967 on 2023-06-08

Burt Lancaster is the multi-millionaire oil magnate "Felix Happer" who despatches one of his minions (Peter Riegert) to Scotland to buy up a... read more

A Review by FilipeManuelNeto 3

Written by FilipeManuelNeto on 2023-06-20

**Slow, with boring characters and dialogues and a disjointed script, this film does not justify the “hype” around it.** This is one of t... read more

**Slow, with boring characters and dialogues and a disjointed script, this film does not justify the “hype” around it.** This is one of those indie films that has won over a legion of self-confessed admirers. It's a film that everyone speaks highly of, as if it were a solid masterpiece. I didn't know that when I saw it for the first time, so I saw it without a lot of expectations. I'm glad I did it: despite recognizing some merits, I am convinced that the film has been well overrated. The proof is the way it fell into oblivion! If we exclude fans and movie nerds who know everything (and when they don't, they make it up) who really remembers this movie? The film revolves around a story that is very simple: in the north of Scotland, there is a small bay with a beach and a sleepy village. When a rich oil entrepreneur decides to buy all that to build a huge refinery and a terminal for oil tankers, all those people are expectant, wanting to sell what they have for the best price. Only two people disagree: a marine biologist who want to preserve and study the local, and an old simpleton who owns a good part of that beach. The film had some potential, but it lacks solidity and a good script. Time is spent in sterile dialogue, rambling about comets, constellations and flirting. It is also very unbelievable, as a project like this would never be so consensual, there are always those who oppose it for financial or ecological reasons, or mere nostalgia. If director Bill Forsyth decided to close his eyes to the insipidity and fragility of the script, he was equally inept at using the actors. The cast is good, but he didn't know how to use it. Peter Riegert does what he can, but he has absolutely no charisma and is a forgettable protagonist, who seems more uncomfortable with his character than his character with fieldwork, far from the comforts of the office. Peter Capaldi doesn't do it better, and Jenny Seagrove is just a pretty face here. Fulton Mackay manages to give us something more substantial, but he has little screen time, and the same can be said of poor Burt Lancaster, who is removed from the screen for a good time. A disjointed script, insipid dialogues purposely created to fill up time, characters without strength and ability to captivate us… could there be something in the technical aspects that saves this film? Yes. The cinematography is very good, making the best use of the beauties of the Highlands. The sets and costumes are quite good, and the soundtrack is atmospheric and pleasant. Is it enough to justify the hype around this film and consider it a magnificent and exceptional work? I don't think so.

Read Full Review (The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewer.)

A Review by CinemaSerf

Burt Lancaster is the multi-millionaire oil magnate "Felix Happer" who despatches one of his minions (Peter Riegert) to Scotland to buy up a village to turn it into an oil refinery. Once he arrives, he is taken for a bit of a ride by the ca...