My Name is Joe

Peter Mullan - Joe Kavanagh
Louise Goodall - Sarah Downie
David McKay - Liam
Anne-Marie - Kennedy Sabine
David Hayman - McGowan
Gary Lewis - Shanks
Lorraine McIntosh - Maggie

Directed by Ken Loach, My Name Is Joe is a dark, funny and moving drama based in a neglected Glasgow neighbourhood, It starts cold and honest enough by introducing Joe (Peter Mullan) at an AA meeting. Joe is Glaswegian hard man with a quick-draw temper but a basically sweet disposition, has got sober after years of alcoholism, pulling himself back from the brink because he has realised how violent he can be when he drinks. Joe is on the verge of middle age, edgy and anxious to make up for time wasted in the bottle. Between scraping a living on the dole he's driver/manager for the worst football team in town and has a special affinity for one of the team; Liam (David McKay), a recovering heroin addict who has run a debt to the local druglord-cum-minicab tycoon McGowan (David Hayman).

Slowly revealed in confidences and asides, the devastated emotional landscape that Joe's tough, bright exterior shields comes hurtling out of the past in a startling flashback. By then a new opportunity has come into his life in the shape of Sarah (Louise Goodall), a social worker who has also spent much time working with Liam and his wife. Joe and Sarah's burgeoning relationship is fraught with obstacles, not least when he moves to placate the heavies rounding on Liam for unpaid debts With many scenes shot in dark, barely lit rooms, the nightmare of Joe's past seems to be ever present, lurking in the shadows.

But the resolve of the human spirit and its ability to face up to circumstances that are depressing emotionally wrenching and even violent. My Name is Joe is deeply committed to its characters; underlying humanist ideals, this is an exacting and beautifully measured look at raw, forgot areas of life in '90s Britain.