"Igby Goes Down" – Life Is Great by Homer Yen (c) 2002
"What kind of name is Igby," asks a disaffected female pointedly? He bites back, "It's a name that a person named "Sookie" is no position to ask!" This is the kind of dry humor and biting conversation that fills "Igby Goes Down," a fresh story that is both serious and comedic about one of the toughest things in life – just figuring it out.
Igby is a 17-year old who is bathed with upper class privileges but wants to constantly run away. There's just too much soap and too many bubbles in his tub. He just wants to find the purity of the water. But when you're in a big city like New York, a member of the Blue Bloods, and a family that has imploded, purity is hard to find.
Sookie (likeably goofy Claire Danes) is just one of several people that influence and shape Igby (poised Kieran Culkin) as he struggles to find some meaning and direction. Sookie is several years his senior, and while she finds him cute and funny for now, when reality sets in, it'll be painful and scary for poor Igby.
Igby just can't foresee the consequences of many of his actions and creates for himself unrealistic expectations. Of course, this is a product of his naivete, but the confusion that arises is like a mean joke that never ends.
He harbors open resentment for his dying mom (Susan Sarandon), who expects Igby to be as successful as his older brother, Oliver (Ryan Phillippe). Meanwhile, Oliver has developed this arrogant swagger now that he is one of the freshman elite at Columbia. He generally regards Igby as a nuisance. Yet, as the movie progresses, Oliver sees that Igby is the one to envy and wastes no time in trying to acquire whatever Igby has. Igby's father (Bill Pullman) has been admitted into a mental institution. He succumbed to the enormous pressures of life. His 10 minutes or so in the film creates tremendous sympathy for Igby's situation and fear that Igby may also have the same future.
Two other pertinent characters are D.H. Baines (Jeff Goldblum) who is his wealthy godfather who displays enormous charm and generosity on the outside but an evil streak that no one should see on the inside. The other is the heroin-shooting Rachel (fabulous Amanda Peete), who is a commercially unsuccessful artist that shares Igby's 'Life Sucks' attitude. All of these people surround like Igby like a maelstrom of help and hindrance. Igby does his best to keep himself focused. And we root him onwards.
There's something marvelously original about "Igby" that's just impossible to put your finger on. Perhaps it's the array of skewed yet lovable characters. Perhaps it's the breakout performances of lightweights like Kieran Culkin and Amanda Peete who will no doubt deserve increased exposure as a result of their performances. Perhaps it's the quirky yet marvelously affecting story of a young boy with all the advantages of wealth but the agony of emptiness. Perhaps it's the endlessly witty dialogue. Whatever it is and whichever one of these components stands out in your mind, there is no doubt that you'll warmly embrace "Igby" and his journey.
Grade: A- S: 3 out of 3 L: 3 out of 3 V: 2 out of 3
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