My Name is Joe is easily recognisable as a Ken Loach film, because no one displays as much genuine and unsentimental interest in the working classes as he does. In the impressive series of films he has made since his début Poor Cow in 1968, he portrays the lost dreams and unexpected resolve of the pub-goers and silent workers of the United Kingdom. In My Name is Joe he is back on familiar territory: in the poorest area of Glasgow. Joe Kavanagh (Peter Mullan, who was given a Golden Palm as best actor for his role) is trainer of the worst unemployed soccer team in Scotland. Joe has just got through a year off the bottle and is with Alcoholics Anonymous (hence the title). In the meantime he is jobless but tries to keep Social Services at arm’s length. During an odd job on theside, he meets Sarah, a social worker. When the authorities come by, she saves his skin. She is captivated by Joe’s rough edges as much as he is by her. But that’s where the trouble starts.Loach’s film is more than a love story with superior acting between people from different classes. No one can escape his background just like that, not with the best will in the world, as is apparent when Joe comes up for a hopeless case.
