Watch My Boy Jack For Free

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I found this on DVD from my public library.David Haig, who stars as Rudyard Kipling, is one of the Kipling experts. He has studied him, wrote and starred in the stage play, and now credited as the writer and star for this, the movie. All of it is fact-based and, considering Haig's participation, likely to be very close to what actually happened.Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) was about 18 during filming and he plays the son, Jack Kipling, who was 17, about to turn 18. The times were tense in 1914 and Germany was threatening the peace in Europe and the British Isles. When the King of England declared war, the rush was on to get as many able-bodied men in the service, the survival of England depended on it.Jack was a peculiar case because he had very poor uncorrected vision, and the military was reluctant to take him. But dad, the famous author, pulled strings and young Jack was trained as an infantry officer.Young Jack was a brave and competent soldier, unfortunately he and most other were obliterated in a battle in France. But the story of Jack and his bravery, in the face of strained family dynamics is a good one. Kim Cattrall is good as the American wife and mother, Caroline Kipling. And Carey Mulligan is good as the older sister, Elsie Kipling.

"My Boy Jack" is set during WWI--a war in which many millions of young men were killed for absolutely nothing (between 5-6 million of these were Brits). However, instead of being the story about a battle or large groups of men, it's about one individual--Jack Kipling, the only son of Rudyard Kipling. What makes it so compelling is that Jack shouldn't have even been in action--he was practically blind and had been repeatedly rejected for service. But, since his father was a public figure and had pushed so much for the war as well as the whole 'duty to King and country' rot, it wasn't surprising that the boy felt compelled to push and push to get into the thick of the action. What happens next isn't at all surprising--and gives his family a chance to reassess their values and commitment to the cause as well as their own part in the tragedy.This is a very effective film. Much of it is because of the fine acting by Daniel Ratcliffe (as Jack), Carey Mulligan, Kim Cattrall (as his American mother) and David Haig as Rudyard Kipling. What makes it a little more interesting is that the true story was based on a play written by Haig himself. Overall, it's a wonderful but incredibly sad film that puts an individual face on tragedy. Well worth seeing and filled with emotion--so much so that you really should have some Kleenex handy. One of the better made for TV movies I have seen.

This film is about a famous writer helping his young son to get into the army during the World War I. His son then went missing, and he gets haunted by his decision since.I find "My Boy Jack" touching but rather slow, and hence it did not capture my fullest attention. Rudyard Kipling's final guilt and regret is well portrayed, but I find the transition from a brainwashing propaganda worker to a tormented father is not convincing enough. I am the most impressed by Kim Cattrall's performance, as she consistently conveys her anger, pain and frustration at the situation. Her British accent is impressive, but she slipped on the words "pond" and "daughter" in the scene where she questions a soldier."My Boy Jack" will not be the best anti-war film, but it has good productions and is certain watchable.

There are no ladies knitting back home in the capitals of Europe, but "My Boy Jack" does a topnotch job of portraying the horrors of World War I by focusing on one particular drawing room in England as Rudyard Kipling, his wife and daughter await word of the fate of son Jack, "missing, presumed wounded," in his first battle one day past his eighteenth birthday.Familiar with David Haig only as the bumbling Detective Inspector Grim in the British comedy series, "The Thin Blue Line," I had no idea he could act so dramatically, let alone write so moving a piece as this. Of all the "Masterpieces" on public TV, this is one of the most deserving to be seen.Young Daniel Radcliffe, in the middle of his run as the lead in the Harry Potter movie series, turns in a surprisingly effective performance in the title role here, a role quite different from that of the schoolboy wizard. And young Carey Mulligan, who's become nearly ubiquitous as somebody or other's daughter in U.K. dramas shown on American TV, is equally affecting as the Kipling daughter, Elsie.U.K.-born, Canadian-bred, and U.S.-trained (at least in part), Kim Cattrall plays Kipling's American wife, with the accent to match. This piece was shown as a "Masterpiece Classic" on America's PBS, followed by behind-the-scene interviews with the three principals, Haig, Radcliffe, and Cattrall. Cattrall's interview was perhaps the most articulate of the lot, which may have been a surprise to viewers familiar only with "Samantha", Cattrall's sexpot in The City (NYC) from the popular HBO series.All in all, VERY highly recommended.