Video Americain

Review

Loach has drummed up a veritable masterpiece of agitprop with this engaging tale of an out-of-work laborer who hatches a hundred lame-brained schemes to make ends meet. Through the comedic escapades of Bob (Jones), Loach sternly disabuses us all of the notion that the underclass are a bunch of boozing loafers uninterested in a hard day's work. A devout Catholic, Bob desperately needs money to buy his daughter a new outfit for her first communion. But rather than let Bob's conundrum stand merely as a condemnation of the Church, Loach passionately and with great force of conviction shows the Church also as his only shred of hope -- it is the only thing that keeps Bob going. This conflict is at the heart of Loach's film and it is what gives it its beauty, helping it rise above simple dialectical materialism and touch on notions of spirit.