Film Review – I, Daniel Blake

Ken Loach doesn’t make easy movies. It’s not something that comes natural to him, preferring to stay in the realm of the real, with behavioral authenticity prized most highly by the lauded filmmaker, often searching for the tenacity of the human spirit in the depths of misery. Loach can be an amazing storyteller (“My Name is Joe,” “Raining Stones,” “Sweet Sixteen”), and he can be a frustrating one as well, perhaps a bit too obsessed with depicting onscreen misery. “I, Daniel Blake” is his latest effort, and it plays like a greatest hits mix of Loach fetishes, covering the pains of poverty, injustice, bureaucratic entanglements, and social humiliations. It’s not a light sit by any means, but the helmer is fully in his element, keeping “I, Daniel Blake” relatable and restless, with remarkable performances leading Loach’s mission to sustain realism for as long as possible. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com