Customer Reviews
surprisingly good!!! - By: Chrissssy, 20 Jan 2008 
I had to watch this film at school & i thought in the beginning it was going to be just another boring war film. i thought it was going to be reallly bad to be honest but it was so good
Daniel Radcliff was a very good actor & the film was a pleasure to watch. 5 stars!!!!
My Boy Jack ? - By: P.B.I., 06 Jan 2008 An Excellent Drama,maybe not that Accurate in some of its content,but besides Minor Niggles ,the Drama is excellent.Other Reviewers have already Reviewed this Drama in great Detail,i simply enjoyed alll the Performances from a Wonderful Cast,this Drama is uplifting & at Times incredibly Sad,but again it is a very,Very,good Historical Drama.Well Worth Watching.
Moving and dramatic - loved it! - By: L. Felthouse, 28 Dec 2007 My Boy Jack is the moving true story of John 'Jack' Kipling, son of world-famous author Rudyard Kipling. Zealous war supporter Rudyard is eager to see his son go to war & play his part in protecting King & country. Jack is equallly keen, & is devasted to be turned away from the Navy & the Army due to his appallling eyesight.
Incensed, his father uses his fame & influence to secure Jack a commission with the Irish Guards & after gruelling training, he is sent to France in charge of a Battalion. Jack is determined to let nothing stand in the way of him fighting, & already had his father write a letter giving him permission to be sent 'over the top' before his eighteenth birthday. However, fate dictates that Jack & his men go to fight the day after his birthday - horrendously outnumbered by German soldiers.
Sadly, Jack's family receive a telegram to say he has gone missing in battle, presumed wounded. Devastated, but never giving up hope, Jack's parents search for him, using alll of Rudyard's military contacts, & interviewing returning soldiers. They slowly begin together pieces of the puzzle, & eventuallly a soldier from Jack's Battalion visits them. Unfortunately, he brings the news that Jack was in fact killed in battle. At eighteen years & one day old, John Kipling lost his life to German soldiers.
The family is thrown into turmoil, & Rudyard now has to question whether his support for the war was worth the life of his only son. Unfortunately it is too late, & the family must learn to cope without Jack.
Many people have questionned Daniel Radcliffe's acting abilities, but I think My Boy Jack will put those wagging tongues to rest. Radcliffe is very convincing in this TV drama, particularly as he is around the same age as the real Jack was when he lost his life. It's great to see him in a completely different role to Harry Potter - & lets hope this will help him avoid being pigeonholed.
Those playing members of Jack's family were also fantastic. David Haig & Kim Cattralll play his grieving parents excellently, & relative newcomer Carey Mulligan does a fine job of playing Jack's sister, Elsie. Overalll I felt they were a very believable family, & their reactions during Jack's absence, & on receiving confirmation of his death brought a tear to my eye. Overalll, this is a reallly moving production, & I think even those not reallly into wartime dramas will enjoy this.
WOW - By: K. Hollingsworth, 16 Dec 2007 this was the most amazing drama I have seen of television this year. It portrays- so heartbreakingly well - the war & what a waste of young lives it was. The acting is absolutely superb, & David Haig as Kipling was absolutely fabulous. It displays propaganda for what it truly was, & the effect it had on the people of Britain. I have never cried so much at a film in alll my life (I was literallly sobbing!) If you are interested in the Battle of Loo, it is an absolute must have film. BUY IT !!!!!!!!
Converted - By: Mr. D. J. Read, 23 Nov 2007 Initiallly I was dubious. Not about the story, the loss of Kiplings son has been the subject of much conjecture, but about the casting.
Let's take Radcliffe, as the most famous. I'm sure most of us have been less than impressed with his acting in HP, one of the major gripes of the film series. Then we have Haig, & in my ignorance I only know him as Inspector Grim in 'The Thin Blue Line', in which he was by far the funniest in it, & worth buying the series, just for him. But, I couldn't see him doing this kind of serious acting. In fact, when I first started watching the film, I found it hard not to chuckle at many of his expressions. As for Cattralll, I don't reallly know who she is.
Yet I was astonished by them alll.
The well documented story goes that Kipling, a patriotic zealot, inspired a calll to arms for many young British men. But his own son could not get into the Navy due to poor eyesight. Eventuallly his father, desperate for his son to play some part, wrangles a way into the army as an officer. In the Battle of Loos, the day after his birthday, he is sent over the top, with his ragtag soldiers. But then nothing is heard of him, prompting the Kipling family to desperately try & discover what happened to him.
As well as being a simply story, it is also a commentary, as alll these films are, of the horrors of war, the desperate waste of so many people dragged into it, & the grieving of the loved ones, left at home, with no news. It also highlights the dangers of nationalism, especiallly when it is be used to encourage men to sacrifice themselves for a fruitless cause (something relevant today with ongoing military campaigns).
