Review of My Summer of Love (2005) by Jim H — 10 Sep 2011

Alienated by her brother's conversion to born-again Christianity, a young woman finds companionship and love with an equally abandoned upper class girl.

The highlights of this film are the performances by the leads, Natalie Press, the always exceptional Emily Blunt, and the woefully under-used Paddy Constantine. Each actor is believable and gives a compelling performance. Though I'm partial to Constantine, who had the greatest challenge in making what could have been farcical real, Blunt and Press are both alluring and tortured.

I did have problems with the film's story and direction. The story is so lackadaisical and slowly built that whatever energy the actors and the story's inherit conflict could engender was dissipated. Also, the camera randomly jump-zoomed on certain actors at rare times. I didn't understand the motivation for it -- it seemed like a child had pressed a button he shouldn't have.

Overall, when the film held my attention, it was because of the actors' work, but had the director picked up the pace, I think My Summer of Love would have been an excellent film.