My Favorite Movie

 

Ed Driscoll, over at Instapundit, linked to an old Bleat by James Lileks. In it, he mentions putting on the soundtrack to Local Hero, which he says, “…might be the one record I cannot live without”. I have to agree with him. It is a beautiful work of early ’80s atmospheric music with Celtic seasoning, written and performed by Mark Knopfler. I bought the soundtrack before I had ever heard of the movie, because I was such a fan of Dire Straits. When the movie showed up on HBO, I was apprehensive about watching it. The music is so good in its own right, and I feared a terrible movie would ruin my listening pleasure.

I need not have worried. From the opening shot in Houston, TX to the final fade of a small Scottish fishing village at dawn, every scene in Local Hero is perfect. Written and directed by Bill Forsyth (Gregory’s Girl, Comfort and Joy, Breaking In), this is a movie that will appeal to all ages and tastes. The basic story is of a young, status-conscious oil executive, MacIntyre (Peter Riegert – Animal House), who is sent to acquire an entire Scottish village so his company can build a refinery there. Mac figures he can close the deal in a day or two, but the villagers know why he’s there, and do their best to delay him. In the meantime, he begins to fall in love with the slower-paced life and the community the people of the town enjoy. Burt Lancaster plays Knox Oil’s slightly batty CEO, Happer. He is obsessed with discovering a new comet, and continually asks Mac for updates on the night sky. There’s also a young marine biologist who might be a mermaid, a Russian sailor who is an avid capitalist, and an eccentric beach bum who isn’t quite the fool he appears to be.

This is a movie that rewards repeated viewings. It is one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen, but the humor is very understated. I’ve watched it more than a dozen times, having owned versions on VHS tape and DVD, and every time I watch it, I discover something new. For example, when I watched the new Criterion Blu-Ray edition last week, I noticed for the first time how much Mac needs a telephone to communicate with others. Even though the film is set in the pre-cell phone era, he is constantly picking up a phone to talk to someone, even if it’s someone in his office on the other side of a glass wall. 

Knopfler’s soundtrack is one of the most sensitive and evocative I’ve ever heard. It complements the movie perfectly, and it is an integral part of the viewing experience. The final swell of the Local Hero Theme never fails to give me a lump in my throat. So, if you haven’t seen Local Hero, I highly recommend it, and if you have seen it and loved it, Criterion’s new edition is well worth getting. 

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  1. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    Thaddeus Wert (View Comment):

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Lotsa movies out there, but few as funny, complex, and eternally rewarding through repeated viewings as this one. If there are any others that compare, I am eager to hear of them.

    Some other favorites that I’ve enjoyed multiple times:

    Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges) – the perfect screwball comedy that never goes stale;
    After Hours (Scorsese) – this comes close to the humor of Local Hero, albeit with a much darker tone;
    My Favorite Year (Peter O’Toole) – I’ve watched this one almost as many times as Local Hero;
    Down and Out In Beverly Hills (Nick Nolte, Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss) – hilarious snapshot of ’80s America, with a great cameo by Little Richard.

    “I’m not an actor, I’m a movie star!” Love that movie.

    One of my all-time fave lines:

    “Alan Swann is beneath us.”

    “Of course he’s beneath us, he’s an actor.”

    Would that we could return to those days, that apprehension of actors.

    • #31
  2. EB Thatcher
    EB
    @EB

    Gary McVey (View Comment):

    One sidelight: the producer, David Puttnam, won the Academy Award for “Chariots of Fire”. 24 hours after waving the Oscar in the air on worldwide live TV, Puttnam was standing on the set of “Local Hero”, unpretentiously freezing alongside the rest of the crew. That’s professionalism.

    Wasn’t the movie Gregory’s Girl by the same person?  Also a great movie.

    • #32
  3. EB Thatcher
    EB
    @EB

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):
    Plus it has The Doctor! First time I saw Peter Capaldi, so young and handsome and just plain great.

    I’ve watched Capaldi in many things where I thought he was quite good (including Neverwhere and a bit part in The Vicar of Dibbley.).  However, I think he is the worst Dr. Who I’ve ever seen.  Granted I only started watching the Dr. Who series since they started back up in 2005.  It’s possible that some of the ones from the 60’s through the 80’s were worse (although I doubt it.)

    As Dr. Who, he seemed to think that good acting consisted of screaming all of his lines as loudly and as quickly as possible.  Doing that made his accent almost unintelligible.  I gave up watching that series after the first 5 episodes.  I think that qualifies as giving it a fair try.

    When you compare him to Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith ….. well, you just can’t.

    • #33
  4. Thaddeus Wert Coolidge
    Thaddeus Wert
    @TWert

    EB (View Comment):
    Wasn’t the movie Gregory’s Girl by the same person? Also a great movie.

    Yes, Gregory’s Girl was Forsyth’s first movie. 

    • #34
  5. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    I just watched the movie based on the recommendations.  It turns out I watched it when it first came out.

    I enjoyed it back then, but forgot about it, so I guess it didn’t have the same impact on me that it has with the people posting on this thread.

    Really, it’s a movie about eccentrics where the only “normal” people are “Mac” MacIntyre and Gordon Urquhart (the hotel owner who negotiates with Mac over the sale of the town).

    The soundtrack isn’t intrusive and doesn’t distract from the film.  On the other hand, that also means I didn’t go out and buy the soundtrack. 

    I don’t know if the film was an innovator, but it kind of reminds me of the British Doc Martin television series with the way it portrays the eccentrics in that fictional Cornish town.  Maybe Local Hero was what started a bunch of copycats.

    • #35
  6. Thaddeus Wert Coolidge
    Thaddeus Wert
    @TWert

    Al Sparks (View Comment):
    Maybe Local Hero was what started a bunch of copycats.

    The most obvious copycat I can remember is 1985’s The Coca-Cola Kid. It was pretty bad, as I recall.

    • #36
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