Igby Goes Down (2002)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Burr Steers

Writer (WGA):

Burr Steers (written by)

Release Date:

1 May 2003 (Austria)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Insanity is relative

Plot:

A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.

Plot Keywords:

Manhattan | Performance Artist | Mistress | Godfather | Prep School

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Kieran Culkin	...	Igby
Claire Danes	...	Sookie
Jeff Goldblum	...	D.H.
Jared Harris	...	Russel
Amanda Peet	...	Rachel
Ryan Phillippe	...	Oliver
Bill Pullman	...	Jason
Susan Sarandon	...	Mimi Slocumb
Rory Culkin	...	10-Year-Old Igby
Peter Anthony Tambakis	...	13-Year-Old Oliver (as Peter Tambakis)
Bill Irwin	...	Lt. Smith
Kathleen Gati	...	Ida
Gannon Forrester	...	Little Cadet
Celia Weston	...	Bunny
Elizabeth Jagger	...	Lisa Fiedler

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

98 min | Argentina:99 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Portugal:M/16 | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Canada:14A | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

United Artists

Trivia:

Writer/director Burr Steers originally intended to make this a novel, not a movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: Amount of whipped cream on Sookie's spoon in the diner.

Quotes:

Mimi: I take it you know that D.H. is your father?
Igby: No.
Mimi: Then I'm really glad I told you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in American Fame Pt. 1: Drowning River Phoenix (2004)

Soundtrack:

Esta Noche

Smart movie with good performances

There's no question aspects of this are quite brutal. But the theme of the story dictates they would be so.

Igby Goes Down is about a kid in nowhere's land. He doesn't know where he's going in life and responds to this by being a rebel in everything. Add to this his parental instability with a schizophrenic father and a tyrannical mother and you can understand why he'd be a little mixed up.

In many ways it is a coming of age story, but in others it is too dark to be that. Indeed there is an ambivalence of themes with hope and despair featured in equal measure.

As Igby, Kieran Culkin excels. He's outstanding, the best thing in the movie - which given the quality of his peers, such as a sinister and agenda-ridden Jeff Goldblum, a monstrous and hierarchial Susan Sarandon, a confused and tortured Bill Pullman and a squeaky clean upstart in Ryan Phillippe, is no mean feat at all.

Performances are uniformly excellent, the story involving, and the themes well explored.

Well done all round.