Igby Goes Down

Starring:Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Jared Harris, Amanda Peet, Ryan Phillippe, Bill Pullman, Susan Sarandon, Rory Culkin, Peter Anthony Tambakis, Bill Irwin, Kathleen Gati, Gannon Forrester, Celia Weston, Elizabeth Jagger, Nicholas Wyman, Amber Gross, Cassidy Ladden, Erin Fritch, Jim Gaffigan
Director: Burr Steers
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Many movies strive to capture the confused, yearning spirit of The Graduate or The Catcher in the Rye; Igby Goes Down succeeds. Igby (Kieran Culkin) is a teen struggling to find any purpose or meaning to his life; surrounding him are his tyrant mother Mimi (Susan Sarandon), schizophrenic father Jason (Bill Pullman), wealthy and deceitful godfather D.H. (Jeff Goldblum), and cold brother Oliver (Ryan Phillippe)--all of whom have their own problems. While evading being sent to yet another boarding school, Igby seeks solace with two women: Rachel (Amanda Peet), a drug-addicted dancer who's D.H.'s mistress, and Sookie (Claire Danes), a college student who becomes perhaps his only friend. Culkin carries the film, ably supported by the superb cast; script, direction, and performances are razor sharp. Igby Goes Down doesn't let anyone--including Igby--off the hook for their cruelty, hypocrisy, or lack of empathy. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Listen to the critics--it sucks!!.......2007-01-23

Why another movie about a loser teen making bad choices and expecting sympathy?? He needs to grow up [since he likes adult sex partners], take responsibility for his life and move on! So you don't have a "perfect life" Igby--nobody does. Get over it!!

Igby was great!.......2006-12-13

Kieran Culkin should have exploded on the scene after this film was released, for his performance is one of those subtle acts of brilliance that doesn't so often come around, especially not with young talent who's soul obsession seems to be to star in those pointless teen comedies. In this brilliantly scripted and superbly cast film, Culkin plays young Igby Slocumb, a confused adolescent who lives in the shadow of his schizophrenic father Jason (Pullman), eccentric and at times downright unbearable mother Mimi (Sarandon) and his pompous jerk of a brother Oliver (Phillippe).

Trying to avoid yet another boarding school, Igby seeks refuge in the loft rented by dancer Rachel (Peet) who just so happens to rent from Igby's godfather D.H. (Goldblum) who is also having an affair with Rachel. Igby takes a liking to Rachel, but also to Sookie (Danes), a young beauty whom he meets at a party held by D.H. on evening. As Igby struggles with what to do with his life, and how to best avoid his mother, he's brought to many crossroads with his relationships with these two women.

Kieran perfectly captures the sarcasm and teenage wit that surrounds Igby and serves as a prominent young star. In fact the entire cast was perfectly placed in their assigned roles, each one bringing the right amount of themselves to each character to create a believable and enjoyable ride. Who better to play the cocky older brother than Ryan Phillippe who just brings this arrogance to almost every one of his roles? The leading ladies, Danes, Sarandon and Peet, all bring so much life to their characters, so much authenticity. It was also neat to see Kieran's younger brother Rory getting to play Igby in flashbacks (that Rory is also a very talented kid, just see `You Can Count on Me').

`Igby Goes Down' is one of my favorite films of 2002, one that definitely breaks into my top five, and is one I'm sure most everyone will enjoy. It's a nice detour from the average teen dramady for it has intelligence and originality and is wonderfully acted, littered with genuine talent, and will be a film that's remembered for years to come. Why they can't make more films like this I'll never know!

An under rated gem. Igby goes along way in my books........2006-11-29

Kieran Culkin seems typecasted to play snotty brats, but in this movie it pays off as Kieran gives an excellant performance along with the rest of the cast(and shows excellent future potential). Excellent, cold chilling performances are given by Goldblum, Ryan Phillipe, Sarandon, & Amanda Peet. While Pullman & Clare Danes give performances of a warmer nature that help add a vital element of sympathy to the tale.
Many people seem to have written off "Igby Goes Down" for an odd intense dislike of the characters portrayed. While some of the characters aren't the most likeable people, they never were meant to be, the movie isn't meant to be some perky teen drama filled with lucky how to do characters, its meant to show some more of the cold, intense and disturbing characters you'll find in real life walking down the street.
Igby maybe not be the perfect person, he's just a character trying to find his way in an also imperfect world.
The movie also does a bit of genre bending, although probably best considered a drama meets black comedy. The dialouge is razor sharp, the characters (while not always likeable) are interesting in their own ways, and oddly enough I find the overall theme oddly comforting. A "at some point, whats real will shine though" moral to end the film.
A personal favorite, worth 6 stars.

Igby Goes Right (or, Don't Listen To The Critics).......2006-10-28

I'm glad I don't listen to critics. Had I read the generally poor reviews for this movie before watching...well, I wouldn't have watched, most likely. It would have been my loss. Some critics called it derivative of Catcher In The Rye. Well, lots of movies are derivative of lots of things. Why screenwriter Burr Steers got slammed so hard in an industry that swims in derivation is strange to me.

The film has also been criticized because the title character, played by Kieran Culkin, is snotty and a brat. Yes he is, if you don't look closely. But Culkin's performance is such that we feel the soft inner core of Igby more than we do the faux exterior brat. Ditto for his partner-in-crime older friend/lover Sookie, played to perfection by an actress I'm growing more enamored over every day, Claire Danes.

She more than holds her own in stallar company. Everyone plays their parts as though they were born to them: Ryan Phillippe has the perfect prep-school east-coast snobbery; Amanda Peet is spot-on as the drugged-out, anorexic trendy babe; Susan Sarandon is the cold, controlling mother; Bill Pullman the broken-down, shadow-of-his-former-self father; Jeff Goldblum the shallow, oily scumbag godfather, and Jared Harris is the flaming Russell.

I'm generally not a big fan of ensemble casts of eccentric, grating characters in New York or LA, but somehow I loved these messed-up narcissists. Unlike those who found the film's tone snide and the characters completely unsympathetic, I found (many of) them likeable in their own twisted way. The New Yorker critic above states that the film doesn't have nuanced characters and thus lacks genuine impact, but I'd submit that it does, if you watch closely. For just two moments, watch Igby when Ollie tells him the doctors have "found another lump." He shouts "good!" but his look betrays a deeper reaction. Also note the attempts at the very end of Mimi to come to some sort of terms with Igby, how she tries to give him a little affection in her final moments of life, and how he rebuffs her--until she's dead. It's very haunting and a little bit frightening, honestly. Anybody who thinks Igby is just a sniveling adolescent isn't watching this film very well.

Director Steers--who is surefooted and focused in his big-screen debut--is always finding interesting things for his characters to do on screen--they constantly move about the frame, they fidget, they smoke, they play with their hair, they gulp wine without really tasting it. Perhaps most amazingly, nobody in this movie has any sort of insight into anything, yet somehow *we* get insight--into their world, into the concepts of money and privilege, into class differences, into the insecurities and confusions of youth. The scenes where Igby and Sookie bond, only for Sookie to go off with Igby's hated "fascist" brother, are beautifully done by Culkin and Danes--and hurt to the bone. It, along with many other moments in this film (Pullman's breakdown in the shower, the final farewell between the brothers, and the remarkable, wordless scene where Rachel preps for her final meeting with DH, artfully hiding a shiner with makeup) make this movie something far beyond a sniveling and snotty comedy that most critics passed it off as. Maybe you won't learn the meaning of life--yes, the main point of the movie is that most people--even those who seem different in the beginning--are shallow shells who care more about their outward appearance than about anything that could pass for the faint glimmer of a soul. But while not an original observation, it sure is a true one. And I can name other films that don't have the same burden of originality placed so heavily upon them by critics.

Originally I had the minor complaint that Mimi, the mother, wasn't mean enough, and wondered why one particularly biting scene was cut from the final film. (It's available on the supplements.) A commentary track for the outtakes--rare in itself--explains the reason for the cuts. They were legal rather than artistic, and it's sad that they had to be made.

Ignore the nay-sayer critics, and enjoy this gutsy movie. It's sad, funny, happy, filled with pathos, love and hate, all at the same time, and with a stylish look and, for once, a soundtrack of pop songs that actually works. (The original scoring, by Uwe Fahrenkrog Petersen, is also quite good and very effective.) DVD extras include a making-of documentary that's lots of fun, outtakes, commentary by Steers and Culkin (I would like to have heard from the rest of the cast as well), and the theatrical trailer. For me, this is more than a rental. It's a must-own, an original work in a sea of copycat films that for some reason get more accolades and attention.

Terrific!.......2006-08-31

I didn't see it, which wouldn't have been the case if it were called "Jenna Jameson Goes Down."

Charlie Rose with Susan Sarandon (September 20, 2002)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Susan Sarandon (September 20, 2002)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Description

An hour conversation with actor Susan Sarandon. She discusses her long career in movies, her relationship with husband Tim Robbins, her political activism and her three new films: Igby Goes Down; The Banger Sisters; and Moonlight Mile.

Average customer rating:

Listen to the critics--it sucks!!
Igby was great!
An under rated gem. Igby goes along way in my books.
Igby Goes Right (or, Don't Listen To The Critics)
Terrific!

Igby Goes Down [Region 2]
Starring: Kieran Culkin , Claire Danes , Jeff Goldblum , Jared Harris , and Amanda Peet
Director: Burr Steers
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video