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Local Hero
1983 111 min United Kingdom PG 6+
★7.7
Comedy, Drama
Director: Bill Forsyth
Trailers
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EN
EN
EN
Description
An American oil company sends a man to Scotland to buy up an entire village where they want to build a refinery. But things don't go as expected.
Budget:
$4.2M
US Gross:
$5.9M
Worldwide:
$5.9M
Starring
Burt Lancaster
Actor
Peter Riegert
Actor
Fulton Mackay
Actor
Awards
BAFTA 1984
— Best Director
BAFTA 1984
— Best Film Editing
BAFTA 1984
— Best Original Score
BAFTA 1984
— Best Cinematography
BAFTA 1984
— Best Original Screenplay
BAFTA 1984
— Best Supporting Actor
BAFTA 1984
— Best Director
Key opinion
Local Hero is widely celebrated as a soulful and atmospheric British comedy-drama that contrasts corporate ambition with the gentle, eccentric pace of a remote Scottish village. While most viewers appreciate its unique humor and Mark Knopfler's evocative score, some critics find the narrative too slow and the characters too thin to sustain interest.
| Score | Mark Knopfler’s atmospheric score provides a sense of melancholy beauty that elevates the film's emotional resonance. | |
| Cinematography | The cinematography effectively captures the raw, rugged beauty of the Scottish Highlands to establish the film's distinct mood. | |
| Humor | The film’s humor relies on a quirky, distinctively British sensibility that values human connection over corporate greed. | |
| Pacing | Opinions on the pacing are split: supporters value the film's deliberate, contemplative tempo, while detractors find the narrative slow and lacking in urgency. | |
| Acting | The character work is a point of contention; some find the ensemble charming and eccentric, whereas others perceive the protagonists as charisma-deficient and the character development as empty. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay divides opinion, with some praising its simple, soulful narrative and others criticizing the script as disjointed with forgettable dialogue. |