Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 30-August-09
Spoiler Rating: Medium

Local Hero (1983)

I think I have been watching too many movies. As soon as I pressed PLAY on Local Hero and saw protagonist "Mac" MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) travel from Houston to Scotland, I prepared myself for outlandish rural characters, jokes about what is under a kilt, bagpipes, haggis, and a fresh-faced love interest named Morag. As the minutes ticked by I found myself becoming absurdly annoyed that these standard demonstrations of Scottish charm were not forthcoming. It took me a bit to recognize that the movie's own charm stems from its eschewal of such cuteness for subtlety … for the most part. Writer/director Bill Forsyth does not grandstand to make a point about the pleasures of simplicity and fellowship.

Mac goes to the northern coast of Scotland as a representative from an oil company. He is, as he states, a "telex man," a deal broker who prefers to conduct his affairs without face-to-face contact. (He even telephones co-workers sitting two desks away.) Not surprisingly, he does not have much of a social life, but he seems satisfied with succeeding at his job. His current assignment is to buy an entire town so that the land can be used for a refinery. Though he is given a local assistant (Peter Capaldi) he does not need one, since the townsfolk are welcoming and their de facto leader (Denis Lawson) is thrilled at the prospect of making millionaires by the sale of their land. Negotiations proceed at a gentle pace suitable to the setting and are lubricated by a healthy amount of whiskey. Almost without noticing it, Mac settles into a laid-back life filled with new friends and lovely surroundings.

If Mac's change in perspective receives subtle treatment, the ancillary story featuring Burt Lancaster as his tycoon boss does not. The presence of Lancaster, a longtime Hollywood star, is an obvious grab for artistic legitimacy that is never justified of its own accord. Throughout the movie the eccentric tycoon appears in embarrassing, would-be hilarious situations with his therapist, and then, when Mac hits a snag in the negotiations, he graduates from a titan of industry to a deus ex machina, arriving in Scotland to wrap things up with a bow. This last part makes sense, at least, in that it emphasizes Mac's realization that business, the erstwhile focus of his existence, is no match for the whims of old men. He carries this notion and the peace of the town back home, where Forsyth invites us to believe they do him some good. Local Hero can do viewers some good if they savor the soft shades of Mac's adventure and ignore the garish silly parts.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.