Ken Loach won the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for this drama about a 59-year-old British carpenter and widower in Newcastle recovering from a heart attack while fighting for the public assistance that he's earned over his long working life. Comedian Dave Johns plays Daniel with an exasperated incredulity and dogged determination, running into a series of bureaucratic walls after his heart surgeon forbids him from returning to work and the government cuts off his disability assistance. Daniel enters a surreal maze with no exit and Loach presents this grueling ordeal with tart humor—courtesy of Johns's colorful commentary—while also highlighting his protagonist's basic decency and compassion as Daniel helps a single mother struggling to feed her two kids while her own assistance is on hold. Katie (Hayley Squires) is not the daughter Daniel never had, she's just a person who needs someone on her side, and helping her gives him a reason to keep plugging away. I, Daniel Blake is classic three-pronged Loach social commentary: an angry assault on bureaucracy that treats people as case numbers to be filed and then shuffled on, a defiant cry for dignity and respect for folks at the bottom of the social ladder, and a touching portrait of human compassion in the cracks of the system. A rousing, engaging story with strong characters and a powerful theme of social justice, this is highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)
I, Daniel Blake
Criterion, 100 min., R, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95 Volume 33, Issue 2
I, Daniel Blake
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