My Summer of Love


My Summer of Love is a very solid piece of filmmaking, only somewhat tarnished by what I thought to be a somewhat unsatisfying ending. Despite its hort running time of under 90 minutes the movie manages to touch upon several issues and deal with them more or less apporpriately. My Summer of Love is actually less about love than it might make you assume judging by its title. Much moreso, it's a film about obsession, friendship, short-lived infatuations, loneliness, lies and religion. Not bad for a pretty short low-budget flick, I'd say.

As I said, most of the issues are well-done. I bought the friendship between Tasmin and Mona, even moreso than their subsequent relationship which I'd really call more of an infatuation/obsession than actually being in love. Emily Blunt and Natalie Press both did excellent jobs and had good chemistry with one another. It's kinda sad to see that one of them went on to have a big Hollywood career, while the other still remained pretty much an unknown. Not only did I like their play, though, but I also enjoyed these deeply flawed characters who both had major issues. However, aside from them, I also very much enjoyed Paddy Considine. In fact, to me his character was actually the most interesting of the bunch. The scene towards the end in which he can't restrain himself anymore and throws his Bible Group out is probably the single best scene of the movie. I also loved the scene between him and Tamsin towards the end of the film. I really liked how his film dealt with his character. Despite the limited screentime, he never comes across as some one-dimensional cliché, but rather as a developed and touching character. I loved the scenes between him and Mona.

However, as mentioned above, I was kind of let down by the ending. I don't mean the "twist" which was actualy pretty good. I think that had Mona actually ended up killing Tasmin, it would have been a more fitting conclusion. Not that she would have deserved t, but it actually seemd more consequential to me and the film's version felt like a slight cop-out. It just kinda ended without a real conclusion. I suppose that should symbolize the ephemerality of a summer love, but it didn't work for me and ended the film on a more mellow note than it deserved.

That said, I'm sure this one will benefit from repeat viewings as there's a lot to catch on regarding Tamsin's lies. I hope I'll find time to rewatch this in near future.




B+