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.

Great performances by Catherine O'Hara and Gabriel Byrne as the parents of the Griffin household; both roles are very different (as far as I know) from what the actors usually play. Jared Leto proves himself to be a good actor and also shows he can do a convincing Irish accent.

It is a movie about a kid who wants to live before he enters adulthood. It is also a story of prejudice. Catherine O'Hara steals the show as Frankie's mother with outdated, inaccurate, and fiercely held opinions. It's the story of a kid trying to figure out who is and what he wants out of life rather than following the strict rules of his family. The cast is splendid and the story (while not action packed) is a nice watch.

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