The Last of the High Kings

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.

Fifteen children instead me one vivd still bt Him even never regret only when smo reach my age when me was by his fing bec tog one who only accuse me asif me id nt sufficient in anyth bt we were six y each whether she regret even since much time only few bec her daughter still cant count like she want bt rest even your pocket what possible to be sott even the next

I mean, it wasn't even a decent metaphor for anything. The plot had elements that could have been interesting, but I didn't care about any of the characters. Every time I thought it was progressing towards being something interesting, the movie would shift gears and start heading in another direction. And in addition, it was so predictable. There were too many cliché situations where I knew exactly what was going to happen next. Aside from Catherine O'hara's character, the movie lacked any real interesting personalities. Please, don't be mislead into thinking that this is going to be a good use of an hour and a half for you.

Why me to cry on after why even any word is repeat after em sott ot preted alike bt nov me say srr why to play ball with bt me in middle

I was surprised when watching this movie at what a good actress Catherine O'Hara is. I have seen her in many roles before, but no other role let her shine as she did in this movie. I was also surprised at Jarod Leto's ability, and range. I would have liked to have seen more of Gabriel Byrne.

It is tempting to dismiss this as a condescending survey of the only semi-modernized Ireland of Irish-Americans nostalgia, overbearing on dry humor that is not funny to anyone not broadly familiar with Irish history and sociology, and particularly so since the lead roles are filled by Americans. Yet as anyone who has been to Ireland will discover, it is difficult to draw the distinction between the packaged commercialization of Irish culture and Irish culture itself--partially because entities like the Guinness Irish Pub Co. are just plain good at what they do, so that the Irish themselves get wrapped up in it. (Go to any well-designed "Irish pub" in a major U.S. city and I guarantee you will find Irish people drinking there themselves.) With this in mind, it is a shame they had to change the U.S. title to the rather bland, Hollywood-esquire "Summer Fling" presumably to get into the theaters, since pretty much everyone who would want to see this movie would understand "The Last of the High Kings." But I suppose I digress. Frankie Griffin is desperate to be "normal," yet stuck in a family of idiosyncrasies and waiting painfully for his exam results to return so that he can know whether he will be going to university. The film is not entirely clear what drives this desire for "normalcy," nor does it seem wholly sympathetic toward his somewhat immature proclamation of self-emancipation from the bonds of Catholicism, Fianna Fáil, and chastity. Frankie is apparently highly gifted in the letters and in music, yet he refuses to show this to anyone, even to the end. Perhaps, then, the admonition of his stern and quirky yet very loving mother that "There are plenty of good Protestants... It's a shame they're all dead" (along with accusing Jayne of being a "Protestant bitch," which she is, though not because of her Protestantism) is a hint that his true coming of age will only come with his embracing of his family and identity. The Last of the High Kings is a fun little ride when it takes us into those nostalgic facets of 1970's Ireland and despite its theme, admits that no one these days really comes of age by 17. It is not, however, one of my favorites, owing to its choppy progression and holding back of sympathetic notes for the main characters.

Please don't expose yourself to Catherine O'Hara's cringe making accent. The plot is thin, there is no drive in this movie at all. The one highlight is of course Stephen Rea as the taxi driver, but even his superb contribution is not enough to warrant lifting the odd eyelid. Far better to pop down to the pub and have a quick pint of Guiness. Good luck! Fred F.

"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.

This film didn't start off too badly, but things just got progressively worse. There was the occasional amusing scene, especially during the beginning, but I never found a reason to start liking these characters. When Christina Ricci showed up, I was hoping that she would give the film a shot in the arm, but her character was gone before she had time to make an impact. And so, the final half-hour was simply a chore to watch and a dreadful way to end a poor movie. There's nothing that I can recommend about this film, but I would certainly be interested in finding out why some North American actors were hired for Irish parts. My theory is that some Irish actors saw the script, and they were wise enough to pass on this bomb.

Possibly the worst movie I ever rented. It was listed as a comedy. There was no humor whatsoever in the whole thing. I've never been duped so badly in renting a movie. What a bummer. I only feel bad that I couldn't give a rating lower than a 1.