Rating: 

The Info

Directed by: Kenneth Loach
Written by: Paul Laverty
Starring: Paul Mullan, Louise Goodall, David McKay, Anne-Marie Kennedy, David Hayman
Produced by: Rebecca O'Brien

The Nutshell

An alcoholic soccer coach has to bail one of his players out when he gets in trouble with the mob.

The Review

    Paul Mullan deservedly won the Best Actor award at the 98 Cannes Film Festival for his portrayal of the Joe in My Name Is Joe. His performance is powerful, intense and funny all in one. It is unfortunate that he couldn't get a good film to go along with his abilities. Director Kenneth Loach has made some great films in the past (Ladybird, Ladybird), but this time he is hampered by an original script and the feeling that we've been there and done that all before.

    Joe Kavanagh (Mullan) has a troubled past. An alcoholic who is pushing the one-year-sober mark, Joe has a shady past. He has been in jail, and is familiar with the local mobman McGowan (Hayman). However, he has turned his life around, not only getting off of alcohol himself, but helping his friends get clean as well. He coaches a soccer team and is now an all-round good guy. Naturally, to someone this good, something bad must happen. The particular something occurs when Joe is forced to help out his buddy Liam (McKay), who owes the mob a lot of money. Joe winds up assuming Liam's debts, causing stress in his budding relationship with Sarah (Goodall), a health inspector.

    If the plot sounds like something you have seen before, its probably because you have. The plot is a melange of bits of other films, especially The Boxer. Many parallels exist between Mullan's Joe and Daniel Day-Lewis's Danny Flynn. Both are men who have had relations with bad people, spent time in jail, and emerged as good, outstanding citizens. Both protagonists (and their respective significant other) try to live good lives but can't get past the bad guys from their past. Countless films and TV-movies have dealt with alcoholism, many in a better fashion than My Name Is Joe. The fun, happy scenes with the soccer team, which contain lots of vulgarity and expletives are similar in tone and style to scenes from The Commitments and Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels. It seems as if writer Paul Laverty, whenever faced with a missing line in his script, simply threw in a humourous expletive. Certain scenes, such as one in which Joe makes fun of an old bagpiper, have no point other than to make us think "Boy them English guys sure are sarcastic and witty!"

    Peter Mullan makes Joe a great character. While the character itself isn't original, Mullan's spirit and energy make Joe a quick favourite for many viewers. Joe's battle with the bottle gives the film one of its few emotional climaxes, and Joe's bravado and intensity when facing McGowan are neither over-the-top or understated. Mullan's performance almost conceals the fact that the rest of the cast is lacklustre. David McKay and Anne-Marie Kennedy, as Liam and Sabine are boring and emotionless, even when faced with marital break-up. Louise Goodall is average as Sarah Downie, Joe's love interest. Kenneth Loach throws in a lot of unneeded fluff, such as filler scene segues of passing roads and scenery, but brings his film to an end with a rather heart-wrenching climax. While Peter Mullan will hopefully get lots more work thanks to his role as Joe, My Name Is Joe is not one of Kenneth Loach's better efforts. This film should go alongside Ulee's Gold and Philadelphia, two other films whose only strength is the ability of their leading man to act.

Copyright - Tim Chandler

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