A devastating tale of love and human frailty from the critically-acclaimed master of realism Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes The Barley; Sweet Sixteen; Carlas Song). Joe is a recovering alcoholic (Peter Mullan: Children of Men; Trainspotting) trying to maintain hope in a grim neighbourhood in Glasgow. Sober for almost a year he spends his days attending AA meetings, working odd jobs and evading the dole office. He focuses his remaining energy on coaching a hopeless amateur football team a raucous crew of unemployed misfits trying to steer them from the kind of mess that short-circuited his own life.
Joe has a soft spot for talented player Liam (David McKay: Ae Fond Kiss) and keeps an eye on him and his wife Sabine (Annemarie Kennedy: One Life Stand) who are troubled by debt and drug-dependency. Through a chance encounter Joe meets middle-class community health-worker Sarah (Louise Goodall: Dust; Carlas Song) and a romance develops. It is an unlikely pairing: coming from very different worlds with their own vulnerabilities they are both wary of falling in love.
When Joe becomes caught up in an illegal drug deal in an attempt to save Liam from a dire situation, his fragile relationship with Sarah is threatened and the demons from his past beckon. Winning the Palme dOr for Best Actor, Mullan gives a remarkably naturalistic performance as Joe. My Name is Joe is a dark, insightful and at times uproariously funny film, which in typical Loach style recoils from Hollwoodesque happy endings, hitting instead with cold hard reality.
