Great movie, excellent performances!

Brilliant!

The only reason this film has been received so well in Britain is because of the utter lack of any other decent 'art films' being made here. Unfortunately American reviewers seem to have been taken in too by this: the acting is week, especially by the redhead - almost unbearable to watch due to her character's blandness and stupidity (I assume reflective of the actress herself), the story is similarly dull - with a pointless twist at the end, and the photography may provide a few interesting images but can't make up for the lack of the rest of the film. Furthermore, even I as an atheist was insulted by Paddy Considine's portrayal of his fundamentalist christian. Yet another dumb aspect of the film. Sadly, the only higlights in the film were the brief flashes of nudity. Depressing eh?… Expand

Beautiful but shallow. Although the cinematography and acting was excellent, the story could not be more predictable. I guessed the rest of the storyline within the first ten minutes. The only interesting aspect was the character of Phil, but he was never explored or developed. What a waste.

I walked out of the movie wishing to strangle the people who made this film in much the same way strangulation was portrayed on screen. What a cop-out. Another film equating homosexuality with insanity. Extremely offensive!

If you think that this movie equates homosexuality with insanity, you've missed the whole point. And I think the anti-Christian theme was fresh and daring. Plus, the movie is quietly hilarious. Best movie I've seen in a long tiome.

Very enjoyable. Great visuals, interesting new approach. Not your typical hollywood junk.

In truth, there isn't much depth to this good-looking film, don't let anyone kid you otherwise. English small-town summer romance between a mischievous upper-class teenager and a local orphan teenager needs more to rescue it than the unremarkable fact that they're both girls. Emily Blunt and Nathalie Press work up a lovely sweat with one another, but the phases of their romance seem shallow and inconsequential. Paddy Considine never looks comfortable or convincing as the orphan's born-again Christian older brother.… Expand

This did v. little for me. I expected a lot more, given the raves, but for me, it never delivered. Despite all the praise, I thought it was pretty to look at, but otherwise, basically a waste of time.

A gorgeous, delightful, dark and inviting film, I loved every moment of this. It's as smart as paint and everything that most teen films are not. Pawlikowski, who's already produced one classic with The Last Resort, is fast becoming an umisseable director. The performances from all involved are incredible and the sublety with which Pawlikowski explores the difficult subject of class conflict, sexuality and loneliness shows a rare talent for compassion and sensitivity. I can only assume those who have not taken this film to their hearts were disappointed by the lack of superheroes, brain dead dialogue and explosions. For the rest of us, this is film making of the highest quality.… Expand

This movie was fantastic. The ending had me walking out of the theater with a big smile on my face, and it was far from predictable. Every actor was very believable and moving. An unglorified, entertaining, and realistic case study of characters. Highly recommended for all film lovers.

Look at my shaky camera and talkative characters! I'm being deep!

An utter waste of time. glorifying lesbianism and having disdain for any christian belief.

Apparently, there is a 3-step formula for making a profound film- shaky camera + a homosexual relationship + pseudo-intellectual ridicule of the Christian faith= this movie is a predictable, tedious waste of time.

I agree with mark, this movie is vile, crappy, and pronographic, the only people who would like this is horny perverts who substitute sex for art.

If the teenage lesbian cliches aren't enough to send you screaming from the theater ("sensitive" redhead with background of abuse meets raven-haired "sophisticated" temptress; sparks fly!), the truly contemptible class and wealth cliches will make you want to take a hatchet to Pawlikowski's head (the rich girl is always the bored, cynical, lying predator and the poor girl is always the woeful, basically well-meaning naif). And I haven't even begun to complain about the chock-full-o'-religious-fundamentalism cliches. No, this isn't the worst film ever made. But it has to be amongst the most pretentiously dishonest films I've seen. It's also one of the most ham-fisted scripts I've come across. Natalie Press made an impression. Paddy Considine- bleh. I'm sick of him, too. Oh, and... had the camera shook one more time to suggest emotional distress, a tsunami would have hit England.… Expand

The best film I've seen this year. It is stunningly beautiful. England's countryside draws you in. You won't be able to take your eyes off the principal actresses; they're brilliant. This is an art film that delivers...I hope Hollywood is paying attention.

Perfect acting, good story and anti-Christian theme make My Summer Of Love one of the best movies I've ever seen. The only weakness is that the last 20 minutes are too predictable. But it's still a fantastic movie.

Beautiful, haunting and evocative. The camera, the cinematography, the environment - everything is utterly captivating. You won't always sympathise with the girls, but apparently that isn't even the director's intention. It's a compelling and riveting story about love and disillusionment.

I'll also agree with "Mark's" comments below. Forget the fact that the critics raved about this movie. It's not even average...it's awful.

Extremely well acted. Our sympathies lie with Mona, and even grow at the end, despite the revelation of her darker side. A very fine, emotionally genuine film.

I really don't understand the negative reactions to this film, I thought it was great. Shallow? Waste of time? I don't get it. And I didn't think the character of the redhead was dumb at all. I think her personality more reflected her environment and upbringing than anything else. I found this very refreshing compared to the other garbage being rolled out by Hollywood.

Ever see a movie in which one of the supporting characters is so multidimensional, fascinating and well written and played that he or she stops supporting the movie and pretty much steals the whole thing? A couple of classic examples might include Claude Rains' oddly sympathetic, cuckolded Nazi in Hitchcock's Notorious and Judy Holliday's starmaking turn as a mistreated wife who takes revenge in the Hepburn-Tracy marital farce Adam's Rib; a very recent one would be Edward Norton's deeply humane, mentally tormented and physically ravaged ruler in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven. My Summer of Love adds another entry to the list: Phil, a former bar owner and prison inmate (Paddy Considine, of In America and currently as Russell Crowe's less fortunate fellow Depression victim in Cinderella Man) who accepts Christianity in jail, and once released makes life very challenging for his teen sister Mona (Nathalie Press), who responds in numerous impulsive and sometimes foolish ways. Considine plays Phil with a tenderness and gentleness that belies the character's penchant for violent outbursts; one reason Phil is so absorbing to watch is that he throws himself into the Bible with the same intensity with which he once embraced drinking and brawling. He tries so hard to do everything right that he ends up doing everything wrong. (If you're going to tell someone that you're praying for their soul, Phil, you might possibly get a better response if you don't humiliate them by announcing it in front of a big crowd.) He's struggling to be spiritual, and goes to some rather questionable extremes to achieve that end, but we know that part of his fervency arises from his desperate fear that his old nature will re-emerge; the struggle is truly compelling. By contrast, the main storyline in Pavel Pavlikowski's otherwise rather tritely lyrical, picturesque coming of age film, in which Mona drifts into a peculiar friendship-and-something-more with a more sophisticated counterpart, Tamsin (Emily Blunt) leads to a not particularly surprising revelation. Granted that Mona is an adolescent and thus maybe some allowance should be grudgingly given for a few of her actions, I detested the cruelty and lack of even an attempt at understanding with which she treats her brother; while it's true that some of his more extreme decisions (turning his bar into a prayer center, for example) are obviously difficult for Mona to adjust to, I still believe that this movie would be better titled My Summer of Adolescent Shortsightedness and Selfishness. It's entirely possible that I'm overresponding a bit to how gripping Considine's character and performance were, but it's a real compliment to both that whenever Pavlikowsky turns his camera for an extended period of time on the two beautiful, nubile, usually scantily clad semi-lesbians, I found myself asking more than once, "Where's Phil? How's he doing? Is he OK?"… Expand