TV Guide Magazine

Charming, whimsical, and practically perfect, Local Hero reminds us of the great pleasures that British comedy used to routinely provide.

Empire by William Thomas

Life-affirming and often laugh-out-loud funny, this is feel-good movie-making par excellence.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

Here is a small film to treasure, a loving, funny, understated portrait of a small Scottish town and its encounter with a giant oil company.

The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw

It has a claim to be the last movie with the authentic spirit of the Ealing comedies; although with a longer perspective we can also see how it’s also indirectly influenced by producer David Puttnam in its high-minded spirit of Anglo-American amity.

TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)

Charming, whimsical, and practically perfect, Local Hero reminds us of the great pleasures that British comedy used to routinely provide.

Variety by Todd McCarthy

While modest in intent and gentle in feel, Local Hero is loaded with wry, offbeat humor and is the sort of satisfying, personal picture that is becoming an increasingly rare commodity these days.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Local Hero is a fragment of cinematic whimsy - a genial dramatic comedy that defies both our expectations and those of the characters.

Miami Herald by Bill Cosford

Local Hero is almost magical, it is so unexpected. It is whimsy raised a power or two by the skills of a filmmaker who looks at life slightly askew. He sees enchantment in small, off- center encounters, and gets the enchantment onto the screen. [05 Apr 1983, p.D5]

The Associated Press by Bob Thomas

A delectable entertainment. [14 Mar 1983]

Salon by Charles Taylor

Local Hero is as sweet and loving as movies get. But it's also about as off-kilter as they get, too.

The New York Times by Janet Maslin

Local Hero is a funny movie, but it's more apt to induce chuckles than knee-slapping. Like Gregory's Girl, it demonstrates Mr. Forsyth's uncanny ability for making an audience sense that something magical is going on, even if that something isn't easily explained.

Time Out

Local Hero, which concerns the frustrations of a Texas oilman's attempts to buy up an idyllic Scottish village, ranks as a lyrical anti-urban comedy in the great tradition of films like I Know Where I'm Going and Whisky Galore!; and its essential triumph is to prove that comedy can still contain a gentle, almost mystical, aspect without necessarily being old-fashioned.

The New Yorker by Pauline Kael

The film has an original, feathery charm.

Chicago Reader by Dave Kehr

The thematics are rather cloying, but the mood—profoundly relaxed, bemused—eventually conquers.