My Name Is Joe (1998)

My Name Is Joe is a 1998 British 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 ritualised greeting performed in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, as portrayed in the film's opening scene.

The movie was mainly filmed in the council estates of Glasgow and filling small roles with local residents, many of whom had drug and criminal pasts. The natural Scottish accents of some of the actors are unfamiliar to most American television viewers and as such the film is often shown subtitled. (Ken Loach has a policy that actors should speak in their natural accent on film, and his early film Kes faced a similar problem with the South Yorkshire dialect).

The film won awards in many film festivals, including Best Actor for Mullan at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

Synopsis

The film begins with Joe Kavanagh at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, relaying an experience from his past. He states the ritualised greeting: 'My name is Joe and I'm an alcoholic.' He feels that he is not in a position to drink any more with safety. He tells the group that he copes by praying and states that he is grateful to be at the meeting. He receives a round of applause for his admissions.

Actors