Local Hero

A comedy set on the Scottish coast. Mac works for an oil company in Texas. The company's plan is simple: buy a small village in Scotland and the coast around it and build a refinery there. Mac is sent to the village. His task is to close the deal and come home. He arrives and things do not go as expected. The villagers are not against selling; on the contrary they are excited about becoming rich and try to hurry the negotiation themselves. The one who changes is Mac. As the days pass he forgets his phone, takes off his watch, goes down to the beach and does not want to go back. There is one obstacle. An old man living in a hut on the shore will not sell his piece; the reason is not money. There is also the owner of the company. He is interested in astronomy, and when he comes to the village his attention turns from the refinery to the sky. What the narrative is interested in is not nature but longing: everyone wants to be somewhere else, and the film shows that as funny and sad at once. What the ending is will not be written here; in its last shot the film makes it easy for nobody. Peter Riegert plays Mac, Burt Lancaster the company owner and Denis Lawson the hotelier. Bill Forsyth wrote and directed. The music is by Mark Knopfler. Who it is for: anyone who likes quiet British and Scottish comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for pace; the film is very slow and keeps its jokes deliberately out of sight.