blackismylove 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.

volley8885 Many people may believe that "Summer Fling" is a coming of age story. From my perception, I see that this movie is about a 17 year old boy growing up in 1977 Dublin, named Frankie Griffin(played by Jared Leto) trying to discover his destination in life. The movie starts out with Frankie taking exams for his completion of school. The results to these exams will play an important matter if either Frankie is going to further his education or has to get a job. Catherine O'Hara plays Frankie's mother, Cathleen, who is very political and devoted to her country. Frankie's father, played by Gabriel Byrne, is a steady stage actor who is a minor influence in Frankie's life and also to the film, but plays an important element in the storyline. Throughout the film, Frankie tries to gain the respect of two protestant girls that Cathleen is not to fond of. However, Christina Ricci plays Erin, a girl who is from America, is of Irish decent, and not protestant. Cathleen welcomes Erin with open arms, and Frankie just ignores her. Many people may think that "Summer Fling" is about a boy who has a fantasy about being in love with one of the two protestant girls. But to everyone's surprise, "Summer Fling" is about a boy who is on his journey into coming into manhood and along the way picking his own path in his life. I believe that this film a great original story that will make you rethink about important matters in your own life and making dreams of your own.

George Parker "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.

Dan B Pearl 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.