With films like 'Poor Cow','Kes','Family Life' under his belt, 'My name is Joe,' is another of Ken Loach's look at social realism.
Do-gooder and recovering alcoholic,Joe,has spent the best part of a decade crawling back from his addiction. Peter Mullan who plays Joe, won the best actor prize ... Read review
My Name Is Joe is a slice of life so raw that you can see the blood dripping off it and as ... more
in real life it mixes humour passion tragedy and violence in equal measure. Joe is a recovering alcoholic and has done a few things in his past which he'd rath...
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Can we talk? Everybody is pretty well agreed that Great Britain's Ken Loach is one of our ... more
most important filmmakers. On the basis of his work with actors alone--often actors who are unknown until showcased in his films--he commands a place in the moder...
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My Name is Joe is a slice of life so raw that you can see the blood dripping off it and in ... more
real life it mixes humour, tragedy and violence in equal measure. Joe (Peter Mullan) is a recovering alcoholic and has done a few things in his past which he's rather forget. Like most people he knows, he's out of work but he keeps sane by coaching the self-styled worst football team in Glasgow. When one of Joe's players, Liam (David McKay), gets involved with some local gangsters a chain of events is set in motion which not only threatens the lives of those concerned but also comes between Joe's budding love affair with social worker Sarah (Louise Goodall).
Can we talk? Everybody is pretty well agreed that Great Britain's Ken Loach is one of our ... more
most important filmmakers. On the basis of his work with actors alone--often actors who are unknown until showcased in his films--he commands a place in the modern Pantheon. The problem is that he sounds terminally "worthy"; his films invariably reflect a commitment to framing harsh sociopolitical realities and steeping us in the fight for justice, a square deal or a square meal. They sound, in short, as if they're "good for you"--whereas the fact is that they are almost always damned good, period.My Name Is Joemakes for an excellent introduction to Loach country--partly because it's just a tad more immediate in its basic viewer appeal. Joe Kavanagh (Peter Mullan), out-of-work Glasgow house painter, is a terrifically attractive fellow, and though he is also a recovering alcoholic, he seems eminently pulled-together and ready for yeoman service as a movie leading man. The main storyline concerns his encounter with and growing attraction to a smart social worker (Louise Goodall). There is nothing star-crossed about their potential love, but each is tough enough to set limits till they've travelled over a distance of mutual ground. Meanwhile, Joe's status as role model among his more emotionally and economically precarious neighbours--an extended family of man--is good for a surprising number of lusty laughs and one fatal, criminal complication that could jeopardise his future. Peter Mullan won a well-deserved Best Actor award at Cannes in 1998, and subsequently directed a family comedy-drama of his own,Orphans. --Richard T. Jameson, Amazon.com
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: Realism films can be a humbling experience Disadvantages: Sometime sordid and brutal reality
With films like 'Poor Cow','Kes','Family Life' under his belt, 'My name is Joe,' is another of Ken Loach's look at social realism.
Do-gooder and recovering alcoholic,Joe,has spent the best part of a decade crawling back from his addiction. Peter Mullan who plays Joe, won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance.
On the dole and living in a soul destroying Glasgow estate, he passes time by coaching youngsters ... ...visitor, Sarah played by Louise Goodall on her check on one of Joe's friends kids.
After a vitriolic exchange Joe bumps into Sarah again and offers to wallpaper her residence and this causes someone to call in the unemployment inspectors for working while claiming benefit.
Sarah manages to get him off by writing to the authorities explaining he was never paid for his assistance.
Joe also helps out his friend Liam after his partner ... more
With films like 'Poor Cow','Kes','Family Life' under his belt, 'My name is Joe,' is another of Ken Loach's look at social realism.
Do-gooder and recovering alcoholic,Joe,has spent the best part of a decade crawling back from his addiction. Peter Mullan who plays Joe, won the best actor prize at Cannes for his performance.
On the dole and living in a soul destroying Glasgow estate, he passes time by coaching youngsters each week. It's during this activity he meets children's health visitor, Sarah played by Louise Goodall on her check on one of Joe's friends kids. After a vitriolic exchange Joe bumps into Sarah again and offers to wallpaper her residence and this causes someone to call in the unemployment inspectors for working while claiming benefit. Sarah manages to get him off by writing to the authorities explaining he was never paid for his assistance. Joe also helps out his friend Liam after his partner Sabine starts doing all sorts of tricks to support her heroin addiction. Joe's relationship with Sarah helps him stand out above the despair as their love blossoms.
Playing a loveable rogue we soon care what becomes of Joe as he struggles in his quest to help everyone but himself.
Loach has been here before with other classics, while this may not be remembered as the likes of Kes, this film has it's moments in a life of hard knocks and moral questions.
A former alcoholic who is currently out of work keeps himself busy by coaching a footabll team in Glasgow. When one of his players becomes involved with local gangsters their lives are changed forever.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
CINEMA CLUB; SONY DADC, 4DVD; SPIRIT ENTERTAINMENT; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Interviews, Theatrical Trailer, Interactive Menus, Scene Index, Interactive menu
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...Appealing....Few proles are more attractive than [McMullan]..." -- Rating: B+ (Entertainment Weekly, p.62, 12/02/1999)
"...[Mullan] gives a phenomenal performance..." (Movieline, p.92, 01/06/1999)
"...[Mullan gives] a blustery, tender performance of exceptional immediacy..." (New York Times, p.E14, 22/01/1999)
"...A sense of beauty and possibility..." (Sight and Sound, p.58, 01/11/1998)
DVD Description
Peter Mullan (ORPHANS, MISS JULIE) won the Best Actor award at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival for his performance as Joe Kavanagh, a recovering alcoholic in his late thirties. Like half the people in his impoverished Glasgow neighborhood, he's unemployed and struggles to get by between odd jobs and the dole, along with coaching a ragtag soccer team largely consisting of delinquents. As difficult as his life may seem, he's buoyed by a willed optimism that he realizes is the only alternative to reverting to his addiction. When he's caught by a niggling unemployment official while doing the odd wallpapering job for social worker-nurse Sarah Downie (Louise Goodall), she helps to keep him from losing his sinecure. The two soon begin a tentative relationship, but Joe remains connected to his former life through his young friend Liam (David McKay), an ex-con and former addict. Mullan is utterly believable as another of social realist director Ken Loach's characters attempting to negotiate the tough climate of 1980s Great Britain.
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