The Last Of The High Kings

The Last Of The High Kings (Directed by David Keating. Starring Jared Leto, Catherine O’Hare, Gabriel Byrne, Colm Meaney, Lorraine Pilkington, Emily Mortimer, Christina Ricci.)

“I hear you’re a great fan of the Thin Lizzies” says the friendly neighbourhood priest to Frankie Griffith in The Last Of The High Kings. It is the summer of 1977 and the priest has been called in by Frankie’s eccentric mother who is anxious that he give her son a pep talk about the dangers of cavorting with “Protestant bitches”. The line is a great one, at once revealing the padre’s fumbling attempt to communicate, and the fundamental gulf that separated those who knew that Thin Lizzy’s name was singular and didn’t take a definite article and those who didn’t.

David Kavanagh and Gabriel Byrne’s screenplay makes you want to seek out and read Ferdia MacAnna’s novel about the coming of age of a kid in a middle-class Dublin bohemian family. Set in the aforementioned summer of 1977, it covers the months between Frankie’s sitting the Leaving and the results. It has benefited greatly from being shot during last year’s sweltering summer, which means it effortlessly conveys the nostalgic feeling that summers in the past really were hotter.

Any film which raises a smile within the first couple of minutes (in this case the end-of-Leaving antics of Frankie and his friends in O’Connell Street) must have something going for it. It gets you on its side immediately and for the most part keeps you there. It is very gentle but contains enough sharp observation to avoid sliding into sentimentality.

Jared Leto is best-known for his role as Jordan Catalano, the gorgeous but none-too-bright object of Claire Dane’s desire in the TV series My So-Called Life. Here he proves that he is not just as cute as a kitten with a very likeable portrayal of the put-upon Frankie, who has to deal with his eccentric family and his lust for two local beauties Jayne Wayne (Pilkington) and Romy Thomas (Emily Mortimer) while waiting for the dreaded Leaving results. Leto even gets the accent right – at least it is accurate enough not to get on your nerves. He even surmounts the handicap of having his hair dyed an unfeasible raven black.

The same unfortunately can’t be said for Catherine O’Hare whose performances in films like Beetlejuice and Home Alone showed a real comic talent. Here, as the fiery, nationalistic mother who hates Brits and Protestants and believes her children are descended from the High Kings of Ireland, she overplays and ends up sounding and acting stage Irish – a shame, because the part is a wonderful one.

Gabriel Byrne, on the other hand, is very convincing as Frankie’s actor father and there are strong performances too from the rest of the supporting cast – Pilkington and Mortimer as the leggy, confident girls, Christina Ricci (of Mermaids and The Addams Family films) as an American who comes to stay and who fancies Frankie. Frankie’s buddies are excellent too, especially Jason Barry who gives a perfectly-judged performance as the Elvis-obsessed Nelson. Colm Meaney is fine though a bit underused as the slimy Fianna Fail politician, complete with dandruff-encrusted suit.

Do we need another male coming-of-age story? In the broad scheme of things probably not, but this has the saving grace of being Irish (how many films about Irish teenagers have you seen?) and having a very endearing hero. Also, unusually, the women are allowed to have brains as well as bodies.

It may be slight, but it’s as sweet as an ice lolly. (CD)