Carla's Song

If it's a film by Ken Loach (Ladybird Ladybird, Land and Freedom), you can count on a few things: nigh-impenetrable accents, unapologetic leftist politics and naturalistic, intensely human stories of personal and societal struggle. Carla's Song is no exception, a well-acted if over-long tale of a Glasgow bus driver (The Full Monty's Robert Carlyle) who falls in love with an emotionally scarred Nicaraguan refugee (Oyanka Cabezas) and returns with her to her homeland circa 1987 to help her face her demons. The first half of the film is compelling, with Carlyle doing exceptional work as the gleefully irresponsible fellow who finally begins to tune in to troubles more profound than his own. The second half, unfortunately, finds Loach mounting his socialist soapbox to damn the U.S. support of the contra rebels and impress upon us the happiness of the campesinos with the Sandinista revolution. There are some powerful, evocative scenes once the film shifts to Nicaragua, but a little bit of Loach's agenda-driven travelogue goes a long way, especially when Scott Glenn (as a CIA operative turned peacenik) begins weeping over his role in the war. Fortunately, the complex love story holds the center when Carla's Song starts getting strident around the edges. Recommended. (S. Renshaw)