Christy by Request — Local Hero

• 22 Apr 2018
• Posted by Christy
•   Christy by Request , Reviews

Don’t let the title fool you: There’s nothing remotely heroic or even vaguely dramatic about “Local Hero.” And that’s what makes it so charming.

Writer-director Bill Forsyth’s 1983 film sneaks up on you. It takes its time. It reveals its characters through snippets of conversation and casual interactions. It’s the classic tale of the little guy vs. the giant corporation, but with a multitude of tiny twists along the way. The fate of both a major American oil company and a minor Scottish village are at stake, but Forsyth (in his follow-up to the sweet 1982 romantic comedy “Gregory’s Girl”) is more interested in getting to know the individual people on both sides of the equation: what inspires them, makes them tick, causes them regret.

I’d never seen “Local Hero,” even though I’ve had the DVD in my collection for many years — a gift from one of my husband’s best friends, who says it’s his favorite film ever. So I was happy when it came up as this week’s random Christy by Request selection, the suggestion of a Twitter follower named Lee (hence the Twitter handle @UCanCallMeLee) who lives in New York. At least it would be easy to get to, especially compared to last week’s film, “Suspiria,” which my husband physically drove out to the Westside to rent for me, old-school.

Sly and surreal humor abounds from the start. This much is clear from an early scene during a meeting at the Houston-based Knox Oil and Gas, in which CEO Felix Happer (the great Burt Lancaster) dozes off and falls asleep so soundly that his coffee mug drops from his hand and he doesn’t even stir. Rather than wake him, his subordinates simply continue the meeting without him in hushed tones.

The plan they’re discussing involves sending one of their representatives, “Mac” McIntyre (Peter Riegert in a post-“Animal House” starring role), to the remote Scottish fishing town of Ferness. His assignment is to buy the whole place, outright, to make way for a refinery. He is chosen because of his last name, which his bosses believe is Scottish; in actuality, Mac is Hungarian. Regardless, he doesn’t want to schlep halfway around the world. A typical go-go ’80s hotshot, he’d rather do the deal by telex and stay home enjoying his Porsche, which is his baby.

But in an early sign that perhaps Mac’s trip won’t be all business, the astronomy-obsessed Happer instructs him “to keep an eye on Virgo for me … I want reports.” This was a rare comedy for Lancaster, the tough-guy star of films like “Elmer Gantry,” “From Here to Eternity” and “Birdman of Alcatraz,” and he seemed totally down for the deadpan weirdness of it all.

Forsyth has fun toying with the flashy conspicuous consumption of the era. There’s a running bit in which people talk to each other on the phone even though they can see each other across the office, and Mac has trouble finding a charger for his electric briefcase once he arrives in Scotland. It all foreshadows the communication obstacles he’ll face in this new, exotic locale.

Ferness is sleepy and strikingly beautiful — jagged and rough but also gentle and green. Mac’s guide to this comparatively exotic land is a local Knox representative, a Scotsman named Danny Oldsen (a young, handsome Peter Capaldi). The hilarious awkwardness of their initial interactions is perfectly summed up by the scene in which they accidentally hit a rabbit — but don’t kill it — along the road in the fog of the countryside. In an American comedy of this era, this would have been a big, wacky moment. Forsyth focuses on the bunny, sitting peacefully in its new home in the backseat of the car.

Capaldi’s striking looks were softer at this point, but the frequent Armando Iannucci collaborator had the verbal quickness even then and an endearingly goofy, lanky physicality. He gets his own endearing subplot in the form of a romance with a beautiful marine researcher named, well, Marina (Jenny Seagrove), whom he stalks during her daily diving excursions.

But “Local Hero” is mostly about Mac as he gets to know Ferness and its people and begins to question his mission there. There’s Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson), the wise innkeeper who’s also the town’s accountant, and his pretty, sex-crazed wife, Stella (Jennifer Black). There are the pub regulars who cheerfully scrounge up their coins to help Mac make a long-distance call from a pay phone back to the States. And there’s the charismatic Russian (Christopher Rozycki) who periodically swoops into town and becomes his unlikely friend.

Riegert is the straight man, the fish out of water, our conduit to these characters (and they are indeed characters) who keep finding ways to hover and cling, no matter how many times he tries to politely dismiss them. But Forsyth never plays up the idea that they’re quirky for the sake of cheap laughs. He doesn’t make fun of them for being insular or stuck in their ways; rather, he approaches them with genuine affection, so it’s only natural when Mac eventually regards them in the same way.

And who could blame him? The fictional Ferness is a picturesque, appealing place, and Forsyth likes to linger in it. He’ll hold a shot longer than you might expect, allowing us to luxriate in the wild, natural beauty of these surroundings. He says so much in the simplicity of the contrast as Mac and Danny walk along a scenic, empty beach in suits and ties, carrying briefcases. Change may be coming, but it’ll come at its own pace.

At the same time, though, Forsyth also isn’t heavy-handed in depicting the town’s charms. There’s undeniable magic when American city kid Mac sees his first meteor shower, or when the sight of the Northern Lights causes him to freak out and show genuine, spontaneous emotion for the first time. And in a bit of symbolism, Mac loses his digital watch in a tide pool as he increasingly becomes a part of things. But in keeping with the film’s overall tone, these moments are understated rather then cheesy.

Working with Oscar-winning cinematographer Chris Menges (“The Killing Fields,” “The Mission”), Forsyth creates a rich sense of place and maintains an easy tempo. Mark Knopfler’s score, which is evocative of the best of Dire Straits with a slight Scottish lilt, contributes greatly to the warm, pleasant mood — especially the theme “Going Home,” which plays during the wistful conclusion. By the end, we feel like we’ve been there and spent time with these people, too.