Movies - Local Hero

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	Movies - Local Hero

Local Hero (1983) is a British comedy film starring Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert, Fulton Mackay and Denis Lawson, directed by Bill Forsyth. It was produced by David Puttnam.

The movie is set in the fictional fishing village of Ferness on the coast of Scotland. A rich young representative of an American oil company is sent to the village on a mission. The film features a notable ensemble of character parts, and the Scottish scenery is beautifully filmed.

The film's soundtrack, which outsold the film itself, was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, and is considered amongst his best work. This has led to the film becoming quite popular with fans of the band, and Knopfler has since performed the films main theme music, Going Home, as an encore at most of his concerts.

Local Hero was filmed in several locations around Scotland. Most of the village scenes were filmed in Pennan on the Aberdeenshire coast, and most of the beach scenes were filmed at Morar on the west coast.

Plot

Mac MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) is a typical 1980s hot-shot executive working for Knox Oil and Gas in Houston, Texas. He is firm in his belief that money can buy happiness and his lavish apartment is furnished with all the mod-cons.

The slightly eccentric chief of the oil company, Felix Happer (Burt Lancaster), decides that MacIntyre is the right man to send to Scotland to acquire the village of Ferness to make way for a refinery, largely because his surname sounds Scottish. Mac, however, is a little apprehensive about his assignment, complaining to co-workers that he would much rather take care of business over the phone and telex machines. Also introduced here is Happer's want to have his name on something, especially considering the fact that his father didn't change the company's name when he bought it - this manifests itself in Happer's frantic search for an unnamed comet to claim.

Upon arriving in Scotland, however, Mac begins a slow but steady transformation as he adapts to life in Ferness and the eccentric people who live there, most notably the owner of the hotel, Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) and his wife, Stella (Jennifer Black).

As the film progresses, Mac finds himself more and more in conflict with himself as he presses to close the deal which will spell the end of the quaint little village he has come to love. The situation is made even more unusual by the fact that the village people, tired of hard life they lead, are more than eager to sell, even feigning disinterest to try and induce a larger offer from Knox Oil & Gas.

The deal seems to be complete, when Gordon discovers that the old beach-comber, Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay), who lives in a weather-worn drift-wood shack by the shore, actually owns the beach he lives on, through a historical agreement with the King.

MacIntyre engages in a last-ditch attempt to entice Ben to sell, putting up large sums of cash and even an offer to by him any beach in the World. The final scenes of the movie have Happer arriving on site to negotiate personally with Ben, with Happer instructing MacIntyre to return to Houston. Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi), of Knox Oil & Gas Aberdeen, then proposes the plans of marine biologist Marina (Jenny Seagrove) in the form of a combined oceanographic and astromical observatory (the 'Happer Institute'), which Happer naturally takes a liking to.

MacIntyre returns to Houston, only then realising how much he now cares for the town. The movie closes with a sobre MacIntyre returning to his apartment in Houston in a final scene much lauded by fans.

Trivia

The radio station on in Mac's car at the opening of the movie is Houston K-N-O-X.
On the DVD release, during the scene of the meteor shower, MacIntyre exclaims "Holy Cow". However, the movement of his mouth is not suggestive of these words.
Association Football club Newcastle United currently play the Local Hero theme tune when their players emerge on the pitch at the start of the game.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Local Hero ]

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Movies - Local Hero

Plot

Trivia

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