The Last of the High Kings (1996)
It is 1977, Dublin rocks to the music of Thin Lizzy and the world is stunned by the death of Elvis Presley. Frankie, caught between acne and adulthood, has just completed his final exams in school. Convinced he will fail, he survives the summer organising a beach party, having lustful thoughts about two girls he believes are unobtainable and fending off the advances from a visiting American family friend, all whilst coping with his oddball family.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Saw this film in Ireland when it came out and loved it then. Found it again on Amazon and I still think it's a great film. It is touching without being mawkish, wryly amusing. Makes me glad I'm half Irish!Interesting introduction to Lorraine Pilkington, lovely girl and a talented actress. The setting is perfect, faded gentility in an Ireland becoming more sophisticated. Some comment on the politics of both church and state, poking gentle fun at both. Not deeply intellectual, but fun without being facile.If you like to see genuine human interaction, skilfully portrayed, you will love this film, now something of a period piece.
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
I purchased this movie because I wanted to see the acting that Catherine O'Hara was capable of, having seen her in Home Alone 1&2. She was marvelous. She was really funny and a really talented actor. She had the gift of making some parts of the movie funny and others, more saddening. All the other characters were also good and they also played their part wonderfully in making such a splendid film!!
"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.