George Orwell once considered Rudyard Kipling to be a “prophet of British imperialism.” Kipling was very much swept up in the nationalistic ideals of the British Empire, often considered to be a “jingo imperialist” by his critics. When World War I arrived, Kipling was anxious to show his support and wanted to have his son, John, contribute in any way he could. There was one problem though as John Kipling had very poor vision.

Rudyard used his influenced to at last acquire his son a position with the Irish Guards, a regiment of the British Army that recruits in Northern Ireland to this day. John struggled at first with the Irish Guards, but ultimately rose through the ranks and became an officer. Back home, Rudyard beamed with satisfaction. After John was pronounced “injured and missing,” the elder Kipling struggled with his guilt and felt immensely responsible for the turn of events. At least that’s the proposition in this telefilm.

In 1997, David Haig wrote My Boy Jack, a play based on the 1915 Kipling poem of the same name. Kipling wrote the poem after his son went missing in the Battle of Loos, years before the death of John (called Jack, of course) was confirmed. Haig used the ode and knowledge of Kipling to establish an outline for his play. The production examined how grief affected the writer after his son’s death. Haig starred in the play as Kipling.

In 2007, Haig took his play and had it developed into an ITV television production. Harry Potter, erm, Daniel Radcliffe stars as John Kipling and Haig reprises his stage role as Rudyard. Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City fame also stars in the production as Kipling’s American wife Caroline. Carey Mulligan is featured as John’s sister Elsie.

This is typical made-for-TV fare. While there are some decent moments of drama, My Boy Jack rumbles deeply through melodrama territory for the bulk of its 93 minutes. The performances are fairly solid but never special. Cattrall flounders the most and never quite feels right in the role. Haig’s turn as Kipling is firm, but his script is a better creation than his performance.