Release Date: 04/22/2008
Label/Distributor: BBC/Warner
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Retail Price: $19.98
Genre: Drama Cast: David Haig, Daniel Radcliffe, Kim Cattrall, Carey Mulligan, Julian Wadham
Director: Brian Kirk (III)
Running Time: 123
DVD Video Options: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video
DVD Audio Options: English, Subtitled; English, Original Language
UPC Code: 883929009350
Its 1915 and World War I has been declared. Aged only 17, Kiplings son, like most of his generation, is swept up in the enthusiasm to fight the Germans, a mood stoked vigorously by his father. Jack is cripplingly short sighted and the army has rejected him twice, rendering him too myopic even for an army suffering thousands of casualties a week and desperate for recruits. Yet Rudyard is undeterred, determined that his son should go to the front, like countless other sons, and fight for the values that he, Kipling, espouses so publicly. Using his fame and influence, Kipling persuades Lord Roberts, on his death bed, to get Jack a commission in the Irish guards. This intervention is barely tolerated by Carrie and daughter Elise (Carey Mulligan), as they disagree that Jack is fit to fight and fear for his safety on the front line. Jack is instantly popular with his troop he is a great leader and trains tirelessly to overcome the disability that is his eyesight. Six months later Jack sails to France as a lieutenant. Jack went missing in action during the Battle of Loos and his mother and father carried out an increasingly desperate search for him, spanning many years and many miles.
DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Interviews
My Boy Jack
By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 4/7/2008
BBC/Warner
Street: April 22
Prebook: now
> Fine performances highlight an engrossing tale of love for family and country in WWI-era Britain.
David Haig wrote and starred in this drama about British literary giant Rudyard Kipling (Haig), who is torn between devotion to his country and love for his family when he gets his son John (Daniel Radcliffe) a commission in the Irish Guards during World War I. John’s military duty leaves mother Caroline (Kim Cattrall) bitter, as she doesn’t want to lose her only son in a war with Germany. Made for British TV, the film’s production values and cinematography are well above the norm for TV movies, and the story is an absorbing one. My Boy Jack also offers change-of-pace roles for Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame and Sex and the City’s Cattrall, who both submit fine period performances here.
Shelf Talk: Originally broadcast on the BBC, My Boy Jack will be released on DVD two days after it premieres in the U.S. on PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre. Thus, the program is sure to be on the minds of those who peruse British programming, though we can’t predict how its broadcast (and inevitable repeats) will affect initial sales. But we are sure that there are plenty of Radcliffe fans who are interested in seeing what else Harry Potter can do. (Radcliffe is currently appearing in a West End production of Equus, which is slated to transfer to Broadway this fall.) Also, Cattrall will be more visible than usual with the upcoming Sex and the City movie.
Drama, color, NR (mature themes, violence), 120 min., DVD $19.98
Extras: cast interviews, deleted scenes
Director: Brian Kirk
First Run: BBC, Nov. 2007
