The Last of the High Kings

A coming of age story for people who don't usually like coming of age stories, unfortunately renamed for American audiences a Summer Fling, which it is not about at all. Nor is it really much of a coming of age movie, in the sense the strongest character is the proddy hating Irish Catholic mother, played by Catherine O'Hara, a red haired overly political passionate nutcase who steals the movie from the kids. The kids, by the way, are interesting, amusing, and not idiotic, like those found in most Hollywood comedies. I found the movie entertaining and I appreciated not being patronized. If you're looking for something light, a little Irish, and a pleasant way to pass the time, check this out.

Fine drama about an Irish family. The story is nothing new but the movie is very entertaining. There are some big names related to this movie. Gabriel Byrne was co-writer of the screenplay, producer and actor in this movie. There's also a small but funny role for Stephen Rea as a cab driver. The leading role is for Jared Leto, the guy who played also one of the leading role is the outstanding movie "Requiem for a dream". In "The last of the high kings" he also gives a good performance. Furthermore we have Emily Mortimer who gives an excellent performance as the sweet and beautiful Romy Thomas. Christina Ricci, who we know from "The opposite of Sex" is also in this movie as Erin.

In general this is a entertaining and sometimes funny movie, although there's nothing special in it. 7/10

A coming-of-age drama, set in Ireland in 1977, the year Elvis died. Louisiana-born Jared Leto plays the eldest and somewhat shy son of an eccentric Irish family, waiting for his exam scores for college admittance while his father (Gabriel Byrne) trots off to America for an acting gig and his mother (Canadian-born Catherine O'Hara) is driving him insane. Plus the two hottest girls in town (one of them Emily Mortimer) are both sniffing around him, and he is the subject of unwanted attention from a visiting American (Christina Ricci). Everything is coming to boil, including a sleazy politician (Colm Meany) sniffing around Leto's perpetually lonely mom. O'Hara is a hoot, and makes what might have been a thoroughly obnoxious character actually quite lovable. A young actor at the time, Leto already showed great promise. I won't vouch for his Irish accent, not being Irish.

"The Last of the High Kings" aka "Summer Fling" is a wonderfully charming and wry little coming-of-age film with Leto at the center of a cast of idiosyncratic characters including his eccentric parents, some lovely lasses, and sundry town folk. This witty but dry slice of Irish life flick is laced with some not so obvious humor which will please those with sufficiently educated palates and leave others cold. A great watch for those with a taste for the Emerald Isles.

The other comments should in fact give you a good indication of whether you'll enjoy the film. If you're interested in Ricci's appearance, would really feel more comfortable if films have laughter tracks too or don't really know about Irish people (or anyone outside North America), you're not really going to get it. If, however, you enjoy the nuances of spoken language, rites-of-passage films, the idiosyncrasies of Irish rural life or '70s rock East of the Atlantic, you'll go for this Gregory's Girly slow-moving heartbreaker.