Plot
The cynical son of an upper-class New York family bedeviled by booze, pills and mental illness strikes out on his own in this caustic, darkly comic drama. Igby Slocomb (Kieran Culkin) and his older brother, Oliver (Ryan Phillippe), are are in the process of killing their mother, Mimi (Susan Sarandon). Flashbacks delineate Igby's troubled childhood: Speed-freak Mimi and her depressed husband, Jason (Bill Pullman), snipe at each other endlessly until Jason attempts suicide before Igby's very eyes and takes up residence in a mental hospital. Igby grows into a rebellious youth, gets kicked out of several boarding schools and ends up in a hellish military academy. After one failed escape attempt, he heads to New York City and hides out in the apartment of Rachel (Amanda Peet), the heroin-addled mistress of his godfather, D.H. (Jeff Goldblum). Oliver locates the young scoundrel and informs him that Mimi is suffering from cancer. Unperturbed, Igby continues his slacker existence -- and his romance with Sookie (Claire Danes), a hipper-than-thou undergraduate who finds herself torn between Igby and Oliver. As Igby gets drawn further into the mind games and hypocrisy of the adult world, his already jaded outlook grows even darker. He takes to dealing smack and hanging out with a cross-dressing performance "artist" (Jared Harris). Ultimately, though, Mimi's impending death draws him back into the family fold for unexpected revelations and realizations. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Burr Steers, Igby Goes Down features Rory Culkin, Kieran's brother, as the young Igby. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviReview
Although it followed Tadpole and The Good Girl in 2002's "Catcher in the Rye" revival, this urgently cynical picture is a far cry from Gary Winick's sweet fable or Miguel Arteta's tragicomic treatise on good intentions. Playing the rebel without a cause for neither melancholy warmth nor laughs, Kieran Culkin invests his bratty character with a black heart and an air of indifference, both of which he retains even when the credits roll; if this isn't a star-making performance, something's wrong. Meanwhile, a cast as varied in age as it is in reputation helps delineate the ugly truths that shape Igby's outlook. Thus far in his career, Ryan Phillippe has been convincing only when playing toffee-nosed connivers, and here, once again, he proves that typecasting can be a good thing. Meanwhile, Amanda Peet continues to display the deliciously nasty edge that made her role in Changing Lanes such a surprising pleasure. As Sookie, the conflicted love interest, Claire Danes overcomes a series of career missteps to remind us why she mattered in the first place. Meanwhile, old pros Jeff Goldblum and Susan Sarandon navigate their Upper West Side world with icy authority and deadpan comic timing. Confident first-time writer/director Burr Steers, who has acted in films by Quentin Tarantino and Whit Stillman, shows a clearer affinity for the latter director's well-heeled angst, but he never treats his walking-wounded characters with flip humor or contempt. Elegantly acted, impeccably written and stylishly filmed, Igby Goes Down will prove unworthy only for audiences who require an uplifting emotional arc in even the most soul-weary story. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviCast
- Kieran Culkin - Igby Slocumb
- Susan Sarandon - Mimi Slocumb
- Jeff Goldblum - D.H.
- Claire Danes - Sookie Sapperstein
- Ryan Phillippe - Oliver Slocumb
- Bill Pullman - Jason Slocumb
- Amanda Peet - Rachel
Credit
Roswell Hamrick - Art Director, Richard Hicks - Casting, Ronnie Yeskel - Casting, Thom "Coach" Ehle - Consultant/advisor, Miggel - Co-producer, Sarah Edwards - Costume Designer, Jonathan Starch - First Assistant Director, Burr Steers - Director, William M. Anderson - Editor, Fran Lucci - Executive Producer, Lee Solomon - Executive Producer, Helen Beadleston - Executive Producer, Rainer Virnich - Executive Producer, David Rubin - Executive Producer, Quentin Harris - Hair Styles, Tom Yeager - Location Manager, Trish Hofmann - Line Producer, Uwe Fahrenkrog Peterson - Composer (Music Score), Nic Harcourt - Musical Direction/Supervision, Chaim Kantor - Camera Operator, David Norris - Camera Operator, Kevin Thompson - Production Designer, Wedigo von Schultzendorff - Cinematographer, Marco Weber - Producer, Lisa Tornell - Producer, Jennifer Alex - Set Designer, Gary J. Coppola - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Mullane - Sound/Sound Designer, Tim Gallin - Stunts, Jodi Michelle Pynn - Stunts, Janet Paparazzo - Stunts, Danny Aiello III - Stunts Coordinator, Trish Hofmann - Unit Production Manager, Burr Steers - Screenwriter, Anna Novick - Production Assistant, Mark Mistretta - Production Assistant, Michael Kamper - Sound Effects Editor, Eddie Michaels - Unit Publicist, George "Jeb" Byers - First Assistant Camera, Lee Kazista - First Assistant Camera, Michael Proscia - Gaffer, Tom Kerwick - Key Grip, Lori Eschler Frystak - Music Editor, City of Prague Philharmonic - Musical Performer, Peter Sabat - Production Coordinator, Jamie H. Zelermyer - Production Supervisor, Michael Meador - Second Assistant Director, Frederick Howard - Supervising Sound Editor, Heath Jacob Baldwin - Assistant Production Coordinator, Susan Cahill - Assistant Sound Editor, William M. Weberg - Best Boy Grip, Thom Bumblauskas - Construction Coordinator, Michael Gallart - Electrician, Chad Mochrie - First Assistant Editor, Eric Shusterman - First Assistant Editor, Ken Dufva - Foley Artist, S. Diane Marshall - Foley Artist, Martin L. Church - Foley Artist, Tim Boggs - ADR Supervisor, Marin Church - Foley Mixer, Billy Hines - Generator Operator, Eric Dean - Production Secretary, Dickens Whitley - Production Secretary, William Sarokin - Production Sound Mixer, Tim Boggs - Supervising ADR Editor, Leann Murphy - Art Department Coordinator| If... (1968 Film), If the World Were a Village (2009 Film) | |
| Igdenbu (1930 Film), Igen (1964 Film) |
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