My Name Is Joe [Region 2]
by Ken Loach
![My Name Is Joe [Region 2]](/images/My-Name-Is-Joe-Region-2-B00004RCLG-L.jpg)
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: David McKay, Gary Lewis, Lorraine McIntosh, Louise Goodall, Peter MullanDirector: Ken Loach
Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd
Editor: Jonathan Morris
Producer: Rebecca O'Brien
Producer: Ulrich Felsberg
Writer: Paul Laverty
DVD: Region Code 2
Audio: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: PAL
Running Time: 105 minutes
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Summary of My Name Is Joe [Region 2]
[NON-U.S. FORMAT (PAL) Region 2 U.K. Import - This will not play on standard U.S./Canada DVD players or those from most other countries outside of Europe. You would need a "multi-region" or "region-free" PAL compatible DVD player or computer.] SYNOPSIS: In My Name Is Joe Peter Mullan ("Orphans"; "Miss Julie") stars as Joe Kavanagh, a recovering alcoholic in his late thirties. Like half the people in his impoverished Glasgow neighborhood, he's unemployed, on the doll, and struggling to get by between odd jobs and coaching a ragtag soccer team largely consisting of delinquents. As difficult as his life may seem, however, he's buoyed by a willed optimism that he realizes is the only alternative to reverting to his addiction. When he's caught by a niggling unemployment official while doing the odd wallpapering job for social worker-nurse Sarah Downie (Louise Goodall), she helps to keep him from losing his sinecure. The two soon begin a tentative relationship, but Joe remains connected to his former life through his young friend Liam (David McKay), an ex-con and former addict. Mullan is utterly believable as another of social-realist director Ken Loach's characters attempting to negotiate the tough climate of 1980s Great Britain.Can we talk? Everybody is pretty well agreed that Great Britain's Ken Loach is one of our most important filmmakers. On the basis of his work with actors alone--often actors who are unknown until showcased in his films--he commands a place in the modern Pantheon. The problem is that he sounds terminally "worthy"; his films invariably reflect a commitment to framing harsh sociopolitical realities and steeping us in the fight for justice, a square deal, or a square meal. They sound, in short, as if they're "good for you"--whereas the fact is that they're almost always damned good, period.
My Name Is Joe makes for an excellent introduction to Loach country--partly because it's just a tad more immediate in its basic viewer appeal. Joe Kavanagh (Peter Mullan), out-of-work Glasgow housepainter, is a terrifically attractive fellow, and though he's also a recovering alcoholic, he seems eminently pulled-together and ready for yeoman service as a movie leading man. The main story line concerns his encounter with and growing attraction to a smart social worker (Louise Goodall). There's nothing star-crossed about their potential love, but each is tough enough to set limits till they've traveled over a distance of mutual ground. Meanwhile, Joe's status as role model among his more emotionally and economically precarious neighbors--an extended family of man--is good for a surprising number of lusty laughs and one fatal, criminal complication that could jeopardize his future. Peter Mullan won a well-deserved Best Actor award at Cannes in 1998, and subsequently directed a family comedy-drama of his own, Orphans. --Richard T. Jameson
Enemy at the GatesPARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2001-08-14; DVD
Best price: $2.86
Price in other shops:
The White RibbonSON; Release date: 2010-06-29; DVD
Best price: $4.85
Price in other shops:
Nil By MouthRelease date: 2003-12-23; DVD
Best price: $6.37
Price in other shops:
NedsNVG; Release date: 2011-08-23; DVD
Best price: $12.97
Price in other shops:
Raining StonesKoch International; Release date: 2007-06-12; DVD
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops:
The Magdalene SistersBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2004-03-23; Published: 2004-03-01; DVD
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
OrphansRelease date: 2001-07-17; DVD
Best price: $2.98
Price in other shops:
Sweet SixteenLions Gate; Release date: 2003-10-07; DVD
Best price: $5.72
Price in other shops:
Kes (The Criterion Collection)IMG; Release date: 2011-04-19; DVD
Best price: $18.74
Price in other shops:
Riff RaffRelease date: 2011-04-22; DVD
Best price: $19.99