The Movie “Local Hero” –
Magic, Memorable, and a Modern Mermaid
The 1983 Bill Forsyth directed movie “Local Hero” was made in 1983. While the film’s age shows around the edges, it is really a timeless piece of film making. “Local Hero” is a reminder that great storytelling is at the heart of a great film. Although it is a small movie, it stays with you as only a truly wonderful story can.
A Unique Story is at the Heart of the Movie “Local Hero”
I try to not give away plot points in my reviews. This allows you to be surprised as the story unfolds. The movie “Local Hero” is a charming story of a hard-driving oil company executive (Peter Riegert) who is happy in his prosperous life in smoggy Houston. His incredibly rich, powerful and quite eccentric CEO (Burt Lancaster) orders him to go to an impossibly beautiful town on an isolated cove in Scotland. 
His assignment: buy up both the beach and the whole town and turn the entire place into a massive oil refinery! Movie fans are probably saying to themselves: “I know what happens next…”
But you don’t!
From the moment Mac arrives in Scotland, nothing is as it seems. The plot unfolds gently and unpredictably. Everything is off-kilter and yet makes perfect sense in its own way. The oil company has a very modern research lab in Scotland. They’ve built a high-tech wave pool mock-up of the beach and town. When a filter goes haywire in the mock cove, a buttoned-down research assistant merely takes off her lab coat and dives in to fix it.
There is no transition or explanation, it is just what she does. The character appears from time to time throughout the film. She is a brilliant environmental marine scientist and something of a modern-day mermaid.
The cinematography by Chris Mengers (“Michael Collins,” “The Killing Fields” is just magnificent. It captures both the quaint quirkiness of a town and the mesmerizing beauty of the coast.
Mac has been instructed to not only buy the town but watch for comets and he starts to gaze at the breathtaking sky above the 
spectacular coast with awe, even as he tries to change the landscape into a high-tech oil refinery. His only means of private communication with Houston is a payphone located at the water’s edge. It is a striking image – a dab of “modern” technology framed against the unending beauty and lush colors of nature.
Watching A Movie Slowly
One of the worst critiques possible of a film is to call it “slow.” “Local Hero” is slow, but not in the sense that it drags. It is slow because the screenwriter/director Bill Forsythe chooses to let the story unfold gradually. The pace is slow, but it is constantly interesting, unpredictable, quirky, and charming. While there are some big laughs in a few spots, “Local Hero” is really more the kind of comedy that just makes you smile throughout. The viewer is constantly kept off-balance as the characters are allowed to reveal themselves in their own time. 
There is a constant sense of being lured in or wanting to know more about the colorful characters and town.
The Movie “Local Hero” – A Small Gem
Burt Lancaster 
was 70 at the time he made “Local Hero.” Although he made several more movies, most notably “Field Of Dreams,” this movie was one of his last opportunities to show what an underrated comic actor he could be. His performance, like so many in the film, is richly textured. The movie “Local Hero” is certainly not for everyone. But for those who relish great storytelling and a unique plot with a definite Scottish/UK sensibility, this is an absolutely winning, charming movie.
Thank you so much for participating in the British Invaders Blogathon! I really enjoyed your post. Local Hero is one of my favourite films of the Eighties.
Terence –
I am glad I did honor to your favorite film! Thank you for including me on your superb blogathon. I will be glad to participate in any future ones you host! I am still reading all the terrific entries!
Barry
I’ve heard many great things about Local Hero and your post has only made me more eager to see it for myself. It’s a shame that director Bill Forsyth seems to have stopped making movies (at least as far as I know) since most film fans I know give him high marks. Glad you decided to post this review!
I had never heard of this movie. Actually, the only two 1980’s Burt Lancaster films I know and have seen are Tough Guys and Field of Dreams. But I can’t say no to Burt. He kept his charm and his talent as he aged. And I’m happy because you said the movie is unpredictable.
Don’t forget to read my contribution to the blogathon! :)
Greetings!
http://www.criticaretro.blogspot.com.br/2014/08/a-caixa-magica-magic-box-1951.html
Thanks for your review. Local Hero is one of my all-time favorites. There something about it that mystifies me, though. When I first saw it in the theater, there was a scene in which the “buttoned down research assistant” is swimming in the ocean, dives under, and rather than her legs rising above the surface, there’s a mermaid’s tail. I remember how startled I was at this magical transformation/revelation. But in the old video tape we have of the movie, it’s her legs that appear, not a mermaid’s tail. Do you recall seeing legs or a fish tail??
You are correct re the tail. In the original theatrical print release, the last time we see Marina–diving under the water–she did, in fact, have a rather large fish / mermaid tail.
In subsequent releases (VHS, DVD, etc), the filmmakers–maybe because they thought the tail was just too whimsical–did away with it.
Hi, Nick!
Do you have a source for that? The reason I ask is that I vaguely remember the tail. detail. But I don’t remember if it’s because I read about it or because I actually sought But I don’t remember if it’s because I read about it or because I actually saw it when the movie first came out. I would love to nail this down. Even cooler would be to find a picture! I would love to nail this down. Even cooler would be to find a picture!
BB
No, Marina did not have a fish tail. I think, in that last shot, she just held her legs together.
But her name is Marina, she only appears in or near the water, and she has webbed feet! Then there is that bit of dialogue, talking about sea lions; “Sailers used to think they were mermaids.” “Aye, they did. They were wrong.”
Obviously, she’s a mermaid!
Thanks for the update, Steve. I think the shot is ambiguous enough that the filmmakers were playing with us just a bit. I don’t think she’s actually a mermaid, but they leave open the possibility just a little!