I honestly can’t remember why I even added this to my to watch list and indeed this isn’t that well known a film. For a long while as I was watching it, I kept thinking, yes, this is all very nice but what is this film actually about? Yet just as the town grows on the main characters without them really realizing it, this film grows on the audience. It’s a very subtle film and even the humor is low-key but by the end, I am convinced that this is a truly delightful gem.

Mac, short for MacIntyre, is a high-powered oil company executive who is sent from Houston to a small village called Ferness in Scotland. The company has identified the bay it is located in as an ideal site for an oil refinery complex and is prepared to pay a great deal of money to acquire the whole village. However, the owner of the company Felix Happer seems to have grown disinterested in the oil business and is obsessed with astronomy. He mysteriously instructs Mac to pay attention to the skies and watch for comets. In Scotland, Mac is joined by Danny, an employee of the UK office and they travel to Ferness together. It is a small place with a slow pace of life and Mac befriends Gordon, who runs the local hotel they are staying in, and is also the accountant who is helping them with the deal. The villages are all aware of who they are and are overjoyed at the prospect of being rich. As Gordon discusses the selling price with everyone to get the deal done, Mac and Danny spend more time in the village without much to do and eventually learn to relax and become used to the place.

The film probably counts as more of a comedy than anything else but I don’t think there is anything in here that is actually laugh-out-loud funny. Instead there’s a kind of wry amusement throughout, such as Mac and Danny trampling around the beach in business suits being self-important, or Happer’s therapist pulling ever more outlandish stunts under the guise of getting an emotional reaction out of him, the unexplained motorcyclist who buzzes around town and keeps almost running into Mac. It’s entertaining, sure, but you keep expecting something bigger around the corner, some epic joke, a major payoff after all the setup. But as with the story itself, this low-key, relaxed approach is itself the film’s point. Gordon works multiple jobs, hotelier, accountant, bartender but he never seems in a rush or under pressure. Instead those different roles seem to add richness to his daily routines. So it is with Mac as Gordon tells him not to rush things in getting the deal done. He learns to stop wearing the ridiculous suit everywhere and walks around the beach in shorts to collect seashells. Without realizing it, Mac has fallen in love with Ferness and the audience too grows to appreciate the film’s sly, subtle power.

On top of the picturesque scenery, actually a pastiche of several different real world locations, there is just a little bit of magical realism and just random weirdness, like the military jets flying around on training missions, to make things interesting. Still the village looks so pleasant that it’s foregone conclusion as to whether it will really get turned into an ugly oil refinery complex as even Marina, the diver girl Danny likes, dismisses the possibility when she is told about the real plans for the site. I do like how the Russian fishing boat captain who pops up in town comments that scenery is nice but you can’t eat scenery to explain why everyone in town is so enthusiastic about selling. But while the ending is the best possible outcome for the village all things considered, it actually makes for a rather ugly truth when you think about it. Happer has all the money so he calls all the shots. This film presents the big business owner as being affably eccentric but it’s still a kind of tyranny how he waltzes into the village, spends a couple of hours there, and changes everyone’s plans without no one else having any say in the matter.

I did really enjoy this film. The strong performances by the cast and restraint here are key to making this so special. I believe this is first film by director Bill Forsyth that I’ve watched and I certainly will see what other titles in his body of work is worth picking up.