poliphilo | My Boy Jack

I didn't have great hopes of last night's TV movie My Boy Jack. I didn't think it would tell me anything I wasn't already tired of hearing. And I was afraid it would be cruel and unfair to Rudyard Kipling- a writer I love. I've read Wilfred Owen and the other war poets, I'm even a little sick of them, I've seen all those movies about the horrors of trench warfare and I've heard the crack about lions led by donkeys so often I'm beginning to want to question its truth- but in the event this turned out to be just about the best drama I've ever seen about the First World War. We glimpsed the horrors and the military unpreparedness and the political hysteria but mainly it was a story about how one typical, atypical family- father, mother, daughter, son- got torn apart. We saw how they divided along lines of age and gender and how they annoyed and resented and betrayed and loved one another. It was beautifully written and beautifully acted. And, yes, Danny Radcliffe was in there- one of the ensemble, sharing the acting honours and proving- as he hardly needs to any longer- what a starry presence he is. I'm not often moved these days by what I see on screen- I'm too busy picking everything apart- but this moved me deeply.

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I was so glad they didn't make Kipling into a jingoistic sabre-rattler. Loved it, especially David Haig.

Haig obviously loves Kipling. It was a brilliant, empathic performance.

I'd love to see this on stage with the same actors. I'd be in floods throughout.

Haig has been playing Kipling on stage for a few years now- but I think the rest of the cast were new. They were all good. I found I totally believed in them as a family.

I'm glad you liked it. All the reviews I've rad have been very positive.

Oddly enough, the only one I've read thus far- in the Guardian- has been negative. Needless to say I disagree with it.

Probably says more about the Groaniad than you.

Will it be released in the USA? Or at least on BBC, so that it might eventually end up on USA Television on the Public Broadcasting channel?
I'd like to see Radcliffe in another role. He was wonderful as Harry, but I know he has much greater range than that one role.
Here in the US there is the danger of an actor being "typed" as a certain character. In those cases, audiences will not accept the actor or actress in a different role.
It is sad that for such a supposedly "forward-thinking" country, many of us Americans allow ourselves to get stuck in ruts with little spirit of adventure.

I'd be surprised if it didn't get released in the USA. Daniel Radcliffe is quite a selling point I'd have thought.

Radcliffe has been very clever in choosing his projects. First he did Equus on stage and now there's this. He's building up an impressive CV and establishing himself as an actor to be taken seriously. I reckon he's already gone quite some way towards breaking free from Harry Potter. At least I hope that's the case. I'd like to think that in ten years time he'll be a major star.

Sorry I missed this! Especially as Daniel Radcliffe was in it. Somehow it feels wrong to fancy Harry Potter - but i saw some of the stills of DR naked in Equus and... well.. wow!

He's a handsome lad.

And talented and apparently good-natured. What's not to like?

I hope I will have the chance to see this; I heard about it and wanted to.

I can't believe it won't get shown in the USA- or, at the very least, released on DVD.

My Boy Jack

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About "Jack"

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