On the recommendation of a co-worker, I took home "My Boy Jack" (2007) from the library on DVD. Left it lay for a few days, and then decided to give it a try.
   Produced by the BBC, it contains the high quality that one expects from their productions. This was made for TV, but I was not familiar with it, had not heard of it at all.
   World War I practically decimated an entire generation of young men in Europe. This story, based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling, concerns Kipling's own family and the heartache the war brought to their lives. Kipling, already an established and well known author, lives with his family at Batemans, in the Sussex countryside. From the outset of hostilities in Europe, his almost 18-year-old son, John, known in the family as Jack, is anxious to join up and fight in Europe. Because of his myopia, Jack has been refused by the navy and the army. Jack, a young and somewhat naive sort, not only wants to fight for king and country, but he also longs to be out from under the "smothering" influence of his family, particularly his father. Rud, who serves on a British War Office think tank and is enthusiastic in his support for his only son's patriotic dream, eventually pulls strings to get "my boy Jack" into the Irish Guards. This is a nightmare for Jack's mother and his sister, Elsie.
   With Jack's departure from the family nest imminent, conflicts ebb and flow between the characters, and the film simply draws the viewer into their world and their emotional turmoil. Jack receives a short officer training course and is put in command of a platoon. He comes home to Batemans unexpectedly and reveals he is being shipped out to France, to his mother's horror. At the terrible battle of Loos, enormous losses are reported, and Jack is among the missing. His mother, Caroline, frustrated at not knowing the truth about her only son's fate, forces her husband to use his influence to help find out what happened to their son Jack, reminding Rud that he used his influence to send Jack to war; now he can use it to help find out where their son is.
   The parts are well cast all around, with Daniel Radcliffe giving a good picture of the uncertainties a young, inexperienced and enthusiastic soldier faced during that war; Kim Cattrall as Jack's American mother is marvelous, with her fierce determination and outwardly calm demeanor; Carey Mulligan's performance as Jack's understanding and supportive sister, Elsie, is quite touching, and David Haig gives an intense and imaginative portrayal as the celebrated Kipling, famous for the "Jungle Books," but who was also a father wracked by guilt who was ultimately forced to face the reality that war brings more death and destruction than glory.
   I found this a leisurely paced, unsentimental, entertaining and thought provoking depiction of the devastation caused to one particular family by World War I and their pain and anguish in trying to cope with their heartbreaking loss. The DVD includes interviews with Radcliffe, Cattrall, and Haig (who wrote the play the film is based upon and the screenplay), who provide interesting glimpses into their interpretations of their characters and the times, and how filming certain scenes at Batemans especially were very affecting to them. An excellent and underrated movie.