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My Name Is Joe

1998

Ken Loach

Peter Mullan, Louise Goodall, Gary Lewis, David McKay ...

7.2

5,082

Drama My Name Is Joe is a 1998 Scottish film directed by Ken Loach. The film stars Peter Mullan as Joe Kavanagh, an unemployed recovering alcoholic in Glasgow who meets and falls in love with a health visitor. David McKay plays his troubled friend Liam. The film's title is a reference to the ritualized greeting performed in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, as portrayed in the film's opening scene. The movie was mainly filmed in the actual slums ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Anthony Lane The New Yorker	"Mullan's combative, unsentimental performance makes Joe's slow ruin not just credible but unavoidable."
		Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times	"I've rarely seen a film where the conclusion is so unexpected, and yet, in its own way, so logical (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Derek Elley Variety	"Emotionally dense, often moving but finally flawed by a lack of focus"
		James Berardinelli ReelViews	"The greatest strength of My Name Is Joe is the sense of stark reality. The humor and tragedy are presented without a whiff of melodrama"
		Kim Newman Empire	"Although it gets a little busy towards the end (...), it has such force and charm that it can get away with such messiness. We deserve more films like this (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Time Out	"Very funny, typically insightful and authentic, and surprisingly sexy (for a Loach movie)"

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