Summer Fling

Origially titled "Last of the High Kings", this film apparently has been released in the US as "Summer Fling". The new title is horrible but by any title, this film is worth seeking out. It is a coming of age tale about Frankie and his friends and family. The story is set in the summer of 1977 to the music of Frankie's favourite band, Thin Lizzy. Jared Leto plays Frankie. His family is ruled by his Mother, played to perfection by SCTV alum Catherine O'Hara. His father, an actor, influences Frankie's life most notably by his frequent absences. Gabriel Byrne, also the co-writer, plays the father. Jason Barry, bearing a striking resemblance to Ewan McGregor, plays one of Frankie's friends who has an obsession with bringing Elvis Presley to perform in Ireland. Christina Ricci also appears briefly but notably as an Irish-American visiting from Milwaukee. (The Milwaukee audience I saw the film with got a big kick out of that reference.) Leonard Maltin's guide mistakenly identifies the mother as pro-protestant, but in fact she is Irish Catholic through and through. What causes conflict for Frankie is when he acts on his lust for the town's two most popular girls. They are protestant and one is backing a candidate for the Labour Party in the parlimentary election. Though the story takes place twenty years ago, the events of the election, and the character of the Conservative Party candidate played by Colm Meaney may strike a chord with Americans. I'll say no more at the risk of giving away too much of the story. It's a shame the title has been changed for American audiences. "Last of the High Kings" is a title which better fits the story. Frankie's mother frequently refers to her children as descendents of the High Kings of Ireland. The King of Rock and Roll's death and life touched people around the world. This is a small film with a big heart. I raise a pint to director David Keating and the "Last of the High Kings".

After I graduated from high school, I was wishing I could find a movie or a book that dealt with the unique emotions of standing at a precipice in your life--between childhood, and the real world.

"Summer Fling" hit the spot! It is one of the rare movies out there that actually deal with this time in life that no one else seems to portray.

Jared Leto is excellent in his role as Frankie, the eldest sibling in his eccentric brood. A kind, seemingly-average boy whose unsure of himself and the future, he experiences mixed emotions the summer after school. Gabriel Byrne and Catherine O'Hara also fit their roles perfectly as his unconventional but loving parents.

Christina Ricci's character is small but very memorable--an American who stays at Frankie's house for a couple of days, and falls for him, despite the fact that he doesn't like her. Her last words to him: " Where I come from, you tell someone if you like them, and even if they don't like you back, they don't treat you like a moron", leaves an indelible impression on Frankie.

Towards the end, Frankie talks to his father and his father tells him: "The world is waiting for you". Frankie responds: "I think it's a little too much."

This is a great movie for anyone out there who is also coming of age. It's a small movie you shouldn't miss!

Like many of the other reviewers, I saw this film under another title (LAST OF THE HIGH KINGS) and the other title was a bit more appropriate. SUMMER FLING gives the impression that the film is about a summer romance, and while a "fling" does occur in the film, it's not the major focal point, though perhaps it should be. Actually, it was somewhat difficult determining the film's focal point or whether it was a comedy with some dramatic moments or a drama with a few comedic references.

We meet in the film a young man named Frankie (Jared Leto) who has just finished taking exams which will determine his future. In Ireland grades on exams determine college choices and ultimately career, so this is a major burden for the seemingly naturally unmotivated young man. Rather than fret about the future, he decides to spend the summer avoiding the potential of limited opportunities and has a number of escapades with his friends. Frankie's offbeat friends, while not troublemakers, are going nowhere fast. We also see Frankie have a number of interactions with his family. He's from an eccentric family. His father is a traveling actor and his mother (played by Catherine O'Hara), once a famous stage personality, is at home raising the rather odd mix of children Frankie has as siblings. Frankie's mother wants him to take an interest in his heritage, claiming the family stems from Irish royalty. She vehemently hates Protestants even though as Frankie rightly claims, many of her heroes are Protestant. Frankie discovers the opposite sex, but it is with a Protestant and member of the Labor Party, neither of which please mother or the local priest. He also misses the opportunity to find first love with an American with Irish ancestry played by Christina Ricci.

The film may be guilty of having too many potentially great plotlines that could make a viewer want more, but ultimately the viewer gets less. Frankie's mother/son conflict could have been interesting, but instead it was rather one dimensional. As it stands, the mother is just an odd duck, Frankie a teen suffering under her control, but both are potentially so rich. The friends could be an interesting lot, but we really never meet them, or at least we don't get to know them with any degree of depth. The political and religious conflicts, so much a part of Ireland in 1977 touch the film, but again not with any depth. If the film had one major plotline: his attraction to a Protestant Labor Party member and the Irish American girl who love shim but he spurns would have been the strongest and most compelling story, with the other side plots story lines adding flavor, it would have made it a stronger film. Overall SUMMER FLING is not terrible, it just could have been better.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 14 reviews  3.4 out of 5 stars