Critic Reviews
| 91 |
Entertainment Weekly Gillian Flynn
This is primarily Haig and Radcliffe's show--and it's a jolly good one. |
| 90 |
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
See it for its most extraordinary performance, by David Haig as an impassioned Rudyard Kipling. See it for the perfectly concise script, written by Haig and based on his 1997 play, as it delivers the Kipling family fully realized. And see the movie for its restrained but deeply heartfelt take on war, on the loss of soldiers, and, most of all, on guilt. |
| 90 |
Variety Brian Lowry
Daniel Radcliffe's maturation into this young-adult role is merely one reason to watch a poignant, splendid "Masterpiece" production, which star David Haig adapts from his 1997 stage play. |
| 90 |
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Above all, enlisting Radcliffe and Cattrall was smart casting. In My Boy Jack, they help bring home the costs of war with wrenching force. |
| 88 |
New York Post Adam Buckman
There is no sign of Harry Potter in Radcliffe's confident performance as a restless boy who becomes a man. |
| 80 |
Hollywood Reporter Laurence Vittes
The slow-paced but beautifully photographed story might have more cumulative than immediate emotional impact on American audiences, for whom the Great War and Kipling are likely to be distant memories, but the anti-war sentiment sure to be triggered by brutal sequences in the trenches and the cries of "Over the top!" will strike home dramatically. |
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
It is sumptuous in the way one wants these English period pieces to be, with green countryside, good contemporary detail and scenes filmed at Kipling's own house in Sussex. The source material limits it as a story somewhat, but the scenes play well and are full of nice human moments. |
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
Although one wishes Haig had dug deeper into characterization in the script, his own performance and that of Daniel Radcliffe as his son elevate the "Masterpiece" film. |
| 70 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
This admirable and well-crafted film doesn’t turn away from the horrors of trench warfare, or from the agony of parents who proudly send their sons to war, yet can’t bear the idea of what those soldiers will find when they get there. |
| 60 |
Philadelphia Daily News Ellen Gray
All three do their best with the great tragedy of Kipling's life, but it's a rock running downhill, and you won't need glasses to see what's coming. |
| 60 |
The New York Times Ginia Bellafante
It is hard to find much emotion in a movie that tries to wrench drama from an eye test. |
| 60 |
Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz
The result is a Kipling devoid of depth--a slender pillar for this anguished tale. |
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