Igby Goes Down

Igby Goes Down is a 2002 American 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, and received generally positive reviews from critics.

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

Igby figures that 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 classmates. 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, successful real estate magnate D.H. Banes (Jeff Goldblum).

While working construction for D.H., Igby first encounters Rachel (Amanda Peet), 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 performance artist friend Russel (Jared Harris). Eventually, he and Rachel have sex. After being suspected and beaten up by D.H., he then hooks up with terminally bored, part-time lover, Sookie (Claire Danes), 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 therefore believes that 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 feeds her poisoned strawberry yogurt before ultimately placing a plastic bag over her head.

Before she dies, Mimi makes a final revelation, casually inquiring of Igby, "I take it you know that D.H. is your father?" Igby visits his father in the hospital before leaving for Los Angeles 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
 * Bill Irwin as Lt. Ernest Smith
 * Jared Harris as Russel
 * Amanda Peet as Rachel, D.H. Banes' mistress
 * Celia Weston as Bunny, Mrs. D.H. Banes
 * Cynthia Nixon as "Mrs. Piggee"
 * Jim Gaffigan as Hilton manager
 * 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. It is one of the last films to show the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center.

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


 * Additional music credits
 * Kodo – "Ibuki Reconstruction"
 * M. Tardieu – "Nocturne"
 * Supreme Beings of Leisure – "Golddigger"
 * Herman Beeftink – "Flamenco"
 * 60 Ft. Dolls – "No. 1 Pure Alcohol"
 * Hans Enrlinger – "Esta Noche"
 * Liquido – "Narcotic"
 * Ramsay Midwood – "Waynesboro"
 * Pete Yorn – "Murray"

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".