My Name Is Joe (1998)

Joe is an alcoholic, manager of the worst amateur football team in Glasgow and generally a good man getting through life one day at a time. When he gets involved in a dispute with health worker Sarah over one of his team (Liam) it serves as an introduction to one another. A first "date" bowling proves a fun night one and tentatively they start a relationship together. However while they try to form their own perfect little place with their feelings being more important than anything else, the harsh realities of life start to pressure them as Liam gets in deeper and deeper trouble with a local drug dealer over his wife's debts.

Ken Loach is not really a man to come to if you are looking for an easy romantic comedy. Although My Name is Joe has tender moments and some quite sensual scenes, it is very much set in the world of the losers, the people we call scum, the people we never see. In that regard it is a typical mix of the good and bad of the human spirit crossed with the rough humour and pitfalls of being near or on the poverty line. They are not themes that we haven't seen before but as usual, Loach does it really well – drawing us in so that even a world we have no knowledge of is convincing and real. The story may not be an everyday tale of the daily grind but it is engaging and real all the same. Loach's direction helps this as he delivers every scene with a natural air and he draws out good performances from his cast.

Mullan rightly hogs the limelight with a performance that is charming without losing sight of the pit that his character is barely out of. He is natural and he drives the film forward from the heart. Goodall works well alongside him. She is as wary as one would expect of her character but yet she has a good yet cautious chemistry with Mullan. McKay has a simpler character but he carries it off really well and just about keeps him sympathetic. The rest of the cast are very much secondary but there are also good performances from Kennedy, Lewis and others.

Overall this is not a fun night in but then you already knew that. What it does do is to paint a poignant story of love on the bread line, of the struggles of poverty and addiction and it does it all in a way that is natural and engaging. Bleak and uplifting at the same time and a fine example of what it is that Ken Loach does well.

Fmovies: "My Name is Joe" is a film in which the complexities of social issues are explored to reveal unpalatable truths. It seems some people can find themselves in situations in which all their choices are wrong ones! This film pulls no punches and is totally believable. Perceptively cast this is a film full of poignancy and depth. "My Name is Joe" is Ken Loach at his very best.

I came across this film by accident on video, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality. Ken Loach is again at his best using little known or non-actors set in a British working class background. Joe is a reformed alcoholic on the dole in Glasgow, trying to pick his life up again. Loach's vision and understanding of life close to the limit is amazing.

For me, this is a "must see" film.

My Name Is Joe fmovies. First this movie seems to be much lighter than previous Loach realisations (remember LadyBird, LadyBird ?). Joe is a hell of a good guy and the other characters are as true as possible. And it is truly funny (the football matches of the "German" team are hilarious). But then, like in many of the best Loach movies, the social reality, with all its dramatic aspects, turns the end of the movie into a real tragedy. A must, in my opinion.

A review of this film in the Telegraph asks, "Why do people go to see Ken Loach films?" I would suggest that people go to see Ken Loach films because they're interested in society, interested in how people live, and keen to see films about REAL people i.e. people who aren't rich and beautiful and don't live in charming pieds a terre in Chelsea ... My Name is Joe is at the same time heartwarming and heartbreaking, making you feel good about the characters whilst thanking your lucky stars that you don't live the lives they do. Go and see it with an open mind and a thirst for realism.

Believe me as soon this movie has ended it will be damned difficult not to reach for your handkerchief and not to dry your eyes as this movie really touches you, and director Ken Loach doesn't even need no Titanic-script as according to his style he just picks out some stories of life. We are in Glasgow, Scotland at where we meet Joe (Peter Mullan), an ex-alcoholic who is on the dole and whose sole surviving point is the footballteam (that always loose) he manages. It's more friendship then football but out of a sudden he meets a nurse Sarah (Louise Goodall) and he falls in love. For Sarah it is quite difficult, she loves him but she can't get used to the world Joe lives in, a world that is dominated by poverty. Everything goes badly wrong when Joe decides to help one of his footballplayers Liam (David McKay) who is a junk and who is in the hands of the mob that are awaiting 2000 pounds from him. Little by little Joe is witnessing that he looses everything that he build up the day he said the bottle farewell. This is not Loach's most known film (I guess that is Raining Stones) but this movie really had its impact on the festival of Cannes and it made a sort of indiestar from actor Peter Mullan who recently made his debut as director making "The Magdalene Sisters". Along with Mike Leigh is Loach one of the best British directors ever, a film you absolutely must see!!!!