You can almost see Liam, drifting aimlessly around town with his friend Pinball (William Ruane), growing up to be Joe in My Name Is Joe (assuming he manages to reach adulthood). Out of a reckless devotion to his jailbird mother, he slips from standard juvenile delinquent behavior to serious crime, oblivious not only to the effects on the people who care about him, but to the corrosion of his own morality. Though Loach sustains a disquieting sense of impending violence throughout most of the film, the real terror comes from comparing the Liam you see at the end of the movie with the cheeky, charming one you see at the beginning. Just a few months separated chronologically, they might as well have a lifetime between them. But, despite the choices he makes, it’s difficult to lose sympathy for him; he retains a basic sweetness that encourages you to imagine the best for him after the credits roll.
The movie reminded me a great deal of My Name Is
Joe
(which I loved) in tone, theme, setting, and, not least, the ambiguous
ending. If it was a bit less emotionally involving for me than Joe,
perhaps it’s because Liam’s fate seems to be sealed much earlier in the
movie, or because Liam has little understanding of the consequences of
his actions (Joe was heart-breaking because he knew exactly what he was
getting into). I can’t say it’s fun, but it is beautifully made
and
deeply involving.
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