My Boy Jack (film)

Background

My Boy Jack is based on the 1997 play by English actor David Haig. It tells the story of Rudyard Kipling and his grief for his son, John, who died in the First World War. The title comes from Kipling's poem of the same name.

The theatre piece played at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in 2004. It then toured Oxford, Richmond, Brighton, Norwich, Cardiff and Cambridge, with the newly formed Haig Lang Productions. In America, My Boy Jack has been performed under the title My Son Jack.

Plot

As the Great War (World War I) begins, 17-year-old Jack Kipling (Daniel Radcliffe), the only son of the famous English writer and poet Rudyard Kipling, declares his intention to join the Royal Navy to fight against the Germans. The elder Kipling (Haig), who encourages him in his ambition, arranges several appointments for him to enlist in both the Army and Navy. However, when Jack's poor eyesight prevents him from passing the medical examinations, both he and his father are devastated. Determined, Rudyard uses his influence with the military establishment to eventually secure Jack an officer's commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Irish Guards. Both Jack's mother Carrie (Cattrall) and his sister Elsie (Carey Mulligan) disapprove of this post, as they do not wish for him to be deployed to the front line.

Jack, who proves to be a popular officer with his troops, undergoes military training and travels to France within six months. On his 18th birthday, Jack receives orders to lead his platoon into action on the following morning. However, during this attack in the Battle of Loos, Jack is posted missing in action and the Kipling family is informed by telegram.

Over the next three years, Jack's parents track down and interview surviving members of his platoon. One eventually confirms that Jack was killed in the Battle of Loos, shot by enemy gunfire, after losing his glasses in the mud during an assault on a German machine-gun post.

Cast

Filming

Exterior scenes for film were shot at Bateman's, the 17th-century house that was Kipling's home from 1902 to his death in 1936, which is now a National Trust property.

Reviews

Reviews of the film were generally positive. The aggregate Metacritic score was 78/100, with positive reviews from Entertainment Weekly, the Boston Globe, Variety, the Orlando Sentinel, the New York Post, The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune, and with more negative reviews from Philadelphia Daily News, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Several reviews took note of Daniel Radcliffe's starring role as Jack. Both Radcliffe and Haig were generally well-received, though Kim Cattrall received mixed reviews for her performance as Jack's mother.

Awards

It won Silver Magnolia Award for Best Television Film at the 14th Shanghai Television Festival in China.