Igby Goes Down | | Cast : | Kieran Culkin, Jeff Goldblum, Susan Sarandon | | Director : | Burr Steers | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 01, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | September 02, 2003 | | Language : | Spanish (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language), French (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 01, 2005 | | Summary | Surprisingly Good | Content
 | I was pleasantly surprised by this movie, probably because I hadn't even heard of it until it was old enough to be on TV. I honestly wasn't expecting much...But now this really is one of my favorite movies. It's smart, funny, and actually portrays the dynamics of a dysfunctional family in a way that isn't cheezy, sappy, or overly cynical. Igby is obviously a take on Holden Caulfield, but I think it's a well-done take. There are similarities to The Catcher in the Rye (like Igby's "I hate phonies" attitude and how he's kicked out of multiple fancy schools), but this film has its own charm, too. You can't go wrong with such a great cast, quirky characters, and dialogue like this:
Sookie: You call your mother "Mimi?"
Igby: "Heinous One" is a bit cumbersome.
[Sookie nods]
Igby: And Medea was taken. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 25, 2005 | | Summary | 3-1/2 stars: not incredible, but not bad | Content
| Like Salinger's "Catcher In The Rye," this film is a study in upper class interpersonal dysfunctionality. However, set in contemporary times and in cinematic rather than book format, it doesn't quite pack the same unified wallop of the novel.
Part of the reason why is because this film demands several sizable suspensions of disbelief, namely in the central anti-hero's sexual accomplishments with two women who are way way out of his league: Amanda Peet, playing a heroin-junkie of a paid girlfriend to his godfather, and Claire Danes, as a hilariously pretentious but overall decent JAP. Besides severly testing the viewer's credulity, this also contradicts one of Holden Caulfield's most poignant traits: his total ineptitude with the fairer sex. In fact, Igby's resemblance to Holden mainly lies in his getting kicked out of one private school after another, occasional attempts at fibbing, occasional bouts of profanity, and serving as human punching bag on more than one occasion (the martyr complex).
Kieran Culkin is a fine actor, but the script makes him into too much of a conventional hero rather than the prickly anti-hero of Salinger's novel. The film is saved however by solid performances from the strong cast, especially Jeff Goldblum and Susan Sarandon, and many witty and well-written bits of dialogue. I especially enjoyed Igby's explanation of the word "vegetarian" as a character description.
Lastly, one of the many pleasures of Salinger's novel is its totally open-ended, unresolved ending---in contrast to this film's quasi deus-ex-machina which provides for a bit more high drama bordering on tragedy and ties up too many loose ends.
Anybody else smell a focus group at work here? |
| Rating | | | Date | February 28, 2005 | | Summary | realistic, emotional, brilliant! | Content
| When I first saw this movie I knew that it was one that I was able to relate to - Igby's struggle of not wanting to be a part of a government that has failed him and the few people he cares able. It's surprising to me that the people I know who have seen this movie have not been able to relate to it even though they seem to come from simular lives. I guess not many people are able to understand and relate to this movie so well. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 28, 2004 | | Summary | I fell in love with this movie. | Content
| Wow, honestly, I was shocked by this movie. Shocked because I end up ALWAYS watching movies that are awful attempts to capture market share on a friday night.
My previous favorite movie was American Beauty, now it is Igby Goes Down. Igby Goes Down was well directed, well acted, and best of all well written. It captures Igby's life (Kieran Culkin), my life, and the life of many others appalled by a heartless, cold, and self-serving upper class. Believe me, from the perspective of a Cornell University student studying business/engineering, but really interested in sociology, psychology and how the world works (not scientifically, but socially), I will tell you that this movie spells reality like no other. It takes everything that upper society ignores and brings it out for you, yet brings it out with great taste and "dark humor" as they call it on the box.
In the end, this movie was well done and well worth your time if you are looking for a movie to get you thinking. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 24, 2004 | | Summary | Funny, but heartbreaking at the same time | Content
| Watching this movie, I found it to be really disjointed, with sometimes mis-matched & unrelated scenes. However, that's the good thing about the movie. It's not trying to be anything superficial, or an unreal look at a teenager's life. It's telling it honestly as it possibly can, and if it doesn't make sense, then you obviously don't understand the movie.
I've never really seen Kieran Culkin as an adult in films, so I hope this means he's finally coming out of his brother's shadow. (Look out for another Culkin brother, Rory, as a young Igby, in terrifying scenes, watching as his father's schizophrenia slowly took over. Exactly how many of these kids are there, running around? Macaulay, Rory, Quinn, Christian, Shane and Dakota. Anymore we should know about?!). I've seen him as a younger actor in films like She's All That, Father Of The Bride 1 & 2, and Home Alone 1 & 2. His character, Igby, is very hard to like and understand, but little clues are scattered throughout the movie - his father's schizophrenia is obviously deep rooted, and he's scared of ending up the same; his mother (played magnificently by Susan Sarandon) never really showed him any love, is self absorbed, and favoured his older brother (Ryan Phillippe, in a role similar to the one in Cruel Intentions), and also Jeff Goldblum, as his phony godfather. Cover your eyes when Igby walks into the room and sees Jeff Goldblum in his y-fronts: that image is burned into my mind now, along with Ozzy chasing a burglar naked. The degeneration of Amanda Peet's character is almost painful to watch.
I've read some reviews that compare this to Catcher In The Rye, which I've never read, but I'm curious, but probably not that curious. It was always one of the recommended books at school, but I never got round to it I guess.
There's probably a few things I'll never understand about this movie, particularly why Igby takes his mother's pills, apart from the fact to annoy her. Or why Ryan Phillippe drinks scotch. Or why they decide to kill off the mother, because of what sounded like snoring! Or the scene with the two schoolgirls fighting. What the hell was that all about? And seeing Jeff Goldblum with his trousers around his ankles was necessary to the storyline why?! I think my poor eyes could have handled his shirt off, but that was too far.
This film is depicted as being a comedy (the only bit I laughed at was Igby getting hit on the head by a key), but it's emotionally charged, and will definitely leave an invisible mark on you for hours after watching it. |
|
