Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Kaydan Christian A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

goldgreen The benefits system grinds you down. It can put you off claiming if you think you are only going to be out of work for a month or so, which is probably the intention of some people in government. So this is a worthy film to make, but the story here seems heavily exaggerated.. In the first half of the film every single misfortune, setback and inconvenience happens to Daniel, one after the other in a way that does not appear believe-able. He is portrayed solely as honest, warm and wholesome while the people who stand in his way are all mean, curt and heartless. Many of the characters seem artificially created or they talk in stitled dialogue to get a political message across rather than give an honest or credible account of being out of work.. The film and the plot really picks up as the relationship between Daniel and Kate develops - the last 15 minutes shows how good the film could have been.

AudreyToo This is all real life. It might not be an actual true story as such, but it is all still very much the truth. Anyone who has had to go through the benefit system in the UK will know how accurate this film is and, no matter how tough you think you are, it will be hard not to shed a tear when watching this film. Although not under exactly the same circumstances as Daniel Blake, I have experienced the frustrating bureaucracy of having to go to a Job Center and try to sort out benefits. I know that cripplingly humiliating feeling of being talked to like you are worthless and lazy even though you desperately want a job. Every time a bureaucratic DWP character mentioned 'The Decision Maker' it made me want to shout at my screen. I have heard those words in real life. I have dealt with those evil government robots. Special mention to a particular man who worked at the Chorlton, Manchester job center around 2011 who made me feel horrible and who couldn't even crack a smile and say well done when I finally did find work. Loads of people hated you mate and I'm sorry that your life was obviously so utterly devoid of happiness and love. (Sorry, i've gone off on one, its just that this film has brought back a lot of memories!)This film should be shown to all civil servants, government officials and definitely all politicians in the UK as a guide of how NOT to operate. I hope that one day soon we'll be able to watch I, Daniel Blake and feel glad that times have changed and people aren't experiencing the unjust struggles which this film portrays.

Kelchubordnor I have put off watching this movie for ages as I just didn't think it would appeal to me. My close friends and brother have all being telling me to watch this film so here I am. This is powerful stuff and I mean POWERFUL STUFF. This is just so true to life. This is government BS gone nuts. This film is put together and devised by somebody who has clearly been through all this and has first hand knowledge of all the front line bureaucracy that is soul destroying. I have worked in the Employment service and have always worked as a civil servant. This film is perfect and sums up exactly how life runs. Simple story a carpenter has a heart attack and is told he can't work by his doctor but is then told he can work by the "health professional appointed by the govermnment". All the online computer stuff (some of which I struggle with and I know computers). The endless forms to fill in and endless waiting on the phone is just so true to life.The whole film is simply one normal bloke trying to get employment and going through a benefit system etc that is not designed to help or make life easy. I'm not going into all the details but the scene in the food bank just had me in tears. You need to watch this film. Absolute travesty that this film didn't win every oscar going. Terrific movie.

basilisksamuk There's a good film to be made about austerity Britain and the injustices of the benefits system but sadly this isn't it. I was disappointed in the rather loaded structure of this film because it discredited the messages that I think Ken Loach was trying to get across.Daniel Blake is an angry older man unjustly denied his benefit payments. What does he do? He starts off in a belligerent mood which does him no favours, he spends days moaning about how he can't use computers when the lads next door are clearly computer wizards who help him fill in the form in minutes once he gets around to asking for help. Basically he goes out of his way to make things even more difficult than they need to be. In the dying minutes of the film we discover he has actually contacted a claimant's union or benefits lawyer when this should have been one of the first things he should have done. He's portrayed as an articulate and social man so it makes little sense that he spends his time being angry with the system instead of fighting it. All the benefits workers, save one, are portrayed as heartless bastards even though they too are working people living on low wages. It's mostly not their fault, it's the fault of the system, yet they constantly get blamed.I can't help noticing in passing that Daniel Blake has extraordinary skills in woodworking and we see him make a top notch bookcase and exquisite hand-chiselled toys. Clearly he could start making bespoke furniture for toffs and sell his toys at craft fairs and make a small fortune. OK, I'm being facetious but it seriously struck me that that was what he should do.As for the ending it's just a massive cop out. This is a well-made and watchable film with outstanding performances from Dave Johns and Hayley Squires but as an indictment of a rotten and degrading system it tries too hard to make Daniel Blake a victim and almost everyone else a pantomime baddie. I suspect this would have been a better film if it had been called I, Katie and followed her story with Daniel Blake as the minor character.