Igby Goes Down

Igby Goes Down
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Burr Steers
Produced by	David Rubin Lisa Tornell Trish Hofmann
Written by	Burr Steers
Starring	Kieran Culkin Claire Danes Jeff Goldblum Bill Pullman Susan Sarandon
Music by	Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen
Cinematography	Wedigo von Schultzendorff
Editing by	William M. Anderson Robert Frazen Padraic McKinley
Studio	United Artists
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)	September 13, 2002 (2002-09-13)
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$9 million
Box office	$6,919,198

Igby Goes Down is a 2002 comedy-drama film that follows the life of Igby Slocumb, a rebellious and sardonic New York City teenager who attempts to break free of his familial ties and wealthy, overbearing mother. The film was written and directed by Burr Steers, and stars Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Susan Sarandon, Amanda Peet, Ryan Phillippe, Bill Pullman, and Jared Harris. It was given a limited theatrical release through United Artists on September 13, 2002 in the United States.

Plot

Jason "Igby" Slocumb, Jr. is a misanthropic 17-year-old boy, rebelling against the oppressive world of his strict East Coast "old money" family. His schizophrenic father, Jason, has been committed to an institution; Igby fears he will eventually suffer a mental breakdown like his father. His mother, Mimi, is self-absorbed and distant. Igby mockingly describes his ambitious older brother Ollie as a fascist or alternatively a Young Republican, and that he studies neo-fascism (economics) at Columbia University.

Igby figures there must be a better life out there, and he sets out to find it, rebelling against his family at every opportunity. After happily flunking out of several prep schools, he ends up in a brutal military academy where he gets beaten by his fellow students. After escaping and spending time in a Chicago hotel courtesy of his mother's credit card, Igby is sent to New York for the summer to his godfather D.H. Banes. While working construction for D.H. he first encounters Rachel, his godfather's heroin-addicted trophy mistress. Rather than return to school, he escapes into the bohemian underworld of Manhattan, hiding out with Rachel and her friend Russel. Eventually, he and Rachel have sex. After being suspected and assaulted by DH, he then hooks up with terminally bored, part-time lover, Sookie, only for her to later leave him for Ollie.

Despite seeming cold and distant, Mimi is not unaffected by her rebellious son. She describes Igby's conception as an act of animosity and it shouldn't be a surprise that his life follows the same course. His name is explained as a family in-joke. As a child, he would blame his toy bear, Digby, for things he had done, mispronouncing it as "Igby". In order to get him to take responsibility for his actions his family would call him Igby whenever he lied. Igby is informed by D.H. that his mother Mimi is dying from breast cancer and so he returns to see her. She has arranged to commit suicide with help from Ollie, who poisons her with ice cream. Before she dies, Mimi makes a final revelation, casually inquiring of Igby, "I take it you know that D.H. is your father?" Igby leaves for Los Angeles in an attempt to finally make a clean break by getting 3,000 miles away from his family.

Cast

• Kieran Culkin as Jason "Igby" Slocumb, Jr.
  • Rory Culkin as 10-year-old Igby
• Claire Danes as Sookie Sapperstein
• Jeff Goldblum as D.H. Banes
• Bill Pullman as Jason Slocumb, Sr.
• Susan Sarandon as Mimi Slocumb
• Ryan Phillippe as Oliver "Ollie" Slocumb
• Jared Harris as Russel
• Amanda Peet as Rachel
• Celia Weston as Bunny, Mrs. D.H. Banes
• Cynthia Nixon as "Mrs. Piggee"
• Gore Vidal (cameo) as Catholic priest
• Gregory Itzin (uncredited) as the eulogist

Production

Igby Goes Down was filmed in locations throughout New York City, including Central Park, Washington Square Park, and SoHo.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released February 25, 2003 by Spun Records.

Music featured prominently in the film and was strongly non-diegetic. Nic Harcourt acted as the music supervisor.

1. "The Weight" – performed by Travis, written by Robbie Robertson
2. "Not You" – Underwater Circus
3. "Don't Panic" – Coldplay
4. "Everybody's Stalking" – Badly Drawn Boy
5. "Bohemian Like You" – The Dandy Warhols
6. "Anyway" – Jelly Planet
7. "Frozen Tears" – G. Mittermeier
8. "Youth is Wasted on the Young" – Krause
9. "Broken Up a Ding Dong" – Beta Band
10. "Boys Better" – The Dandy Warhols
11. "Insanity is Relative" (suite)
12. "Love and Remembrance" (suite)
13. "Igby Goes Down" (main theme)

Reception

Igby Goes Down received positive critical reaction, with a 76% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "In the vein of The Catcher in the Rye, Igby Goes Down is scathingly witty and sharply observant" and a 72/100 on Metacritic. Critics have compared aspects of the story to J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review and a grade of three and a half stars out of four. Stephen Holden gave a strongly positive review in The New York Times, crediting the film with "ruthless emotional honesty" and stating, "Not a false note is sounded." The film was also a New York Times "Critics' Pick."

External links

• Official website
• Igby Goes Down at the Internet Movie Database
• Igby Goes Down at AllRovi
• Igby Goes Down at Box Office Mojo
• Igby Goes Down at Rotten Tomatoes