Seventy-six year old Ken Loach can be described as the UK's leftist conscience, always parked somewhere in the corner of the welfare state. Loach has consistently focused on the inequalities, violence and general blah running rampant among the working class, and how their plight has gotten worse in the accelerated capitalistic world of the new century. "The Angel's Share," however, shows the auteur in a rare upbeat mood, in one of the brightest and most celebratory films during his 45-year film career.

"The Angels' Share" treads the familiar Loach line of plopping a likable but doomed-to-failure lad in the middle of a cold and indifferent society, and observing the results. Petty Glasgow criminal Robbie (Paul Brannigan) has narrowly escaped prison for an assault charge, for which he has instead been sentenced to 300 hours of community service. Before showing up for that, Robbie makes a pit stop at the hospital where girlfriend Leonie (Siobhan Reilly) has just given birth to their son, Luke. Holding the baby in his arms, Robbie swears to turn over a new leaf.

This, despite the fact that no one has ever given Robbie a break and Leonie's father refers to him as "a waste of space." He means to work, to get his hands on some real money and find a place where he and Leonie can live happily ever after and send Luke to a nice school.