My Boy Jack (2008)

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“Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind —
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!
In 1915, author Rudyard Kipling's beloved son went missing on his eighteenth birthday. He'd been in the Battle of Loo. Kipling had been a big proponent of all young men signing up to go to war as he saw the huge threat to England. Despite his own son Jack's poor eyesight, both Kipling and Jack fought the military to get Jack commissioned as a lieutenant.

This touching film about the Kipling's search for Jack aired on BBC in April, 2008.

David Haig did a marvelous job as Rudyard Kipling. Haig also wrote the original play of this story and adapted the script for television. Daniel Radcliffe plays Jack, Kim Catrell appears as his mother, and Carey Mulligan plays his sister.

Directed by Brian Kirk.

Run time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Not rated by MPAA.

My personal rating: A-