'The Salamander King' Review: Basic Feel-Good Fun

The power of an intrinsically bound community and a nostalgic love for a longstanding establishment are film tropes that routinely surface. They bring on a familiar sense of warmth, like a tight hug from an old friend, despite bearing a fairly stiff formula: A small business or some heritage site happily carries on like it has for decades. A powerful figure steps in and threatens to enforce modern, soulless changes — sometimes boasting plans to tear the place down and use its land to build a strip mall or cold housing complex. Said real estate tycoon, investor, developer, et cetera, is typically defeated by natives who unite to save their favorite establishment, green space, or third place. In some cases, a dollar sign-eyed figure changes their tune by the end of the film, relishing the beauty of shared identity and historic preservation.