Igby Goes Down (2002)

A young man's peculiar upbringing renders him unable to competently cope with the struggle of growing up.

Director:

Burr Steers

Writer:

Burr Steers

Stars:

Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum

Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 7 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kieran Culkin	...	Igby
Claire Danes	...	Sookie
Jeff Goldblum	...	D.H.
Jared Harris	...	Russel
Amanda Peet	...	Rachel
Ryan Phillippe	...	Oliver
Bill Pullman	...	Jason
Susan Sarandon	...	Mimi Slocumb
Rory Culkin	...	10-Year-Old Igby
Peter Anthony Tambakis	...	13-Year-Old Oliver (as Peter Tambakis)
Bill Irwin	...	Lt. Smith
Kathleen Gati	...	Ida
Gannon Forrester	...	Little Cadet
Celia Weston	...	Bunny
Elizabeth Jagger	...	Lisa Fiedler

Storyline

Igby Goes Down is a personal tale about a 17 year old misfit boy who copes with his mother's cancer and his father's insanity by pursuing relationships with older women. Truly an intellectual, Igby is a modern day Holden Caulfield, and the world he lives in is far removed from the high standards of expectation he holds for it.

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Plot Keywords:

boy | 17 year old | mistress | artist | money | 

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Taglines:

Insanity is relative

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexuality and drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Atlantic Streamline[us] story, shoot journal Official site [sg] (English)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 May 2003 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Igby

Filming Locations:

Central Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£86,581 (UK) (13 June 2003)

Gross:

£332,721 (UK) (27 June 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Atlantic Streamline, Crossroads Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min 99 min (Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kieran Culkin was actually drinking white grape juice at the Hampton's party.

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Goofs

In the scene where Oliver comes into the loft and finds Igby and Sookie sleeping side by side, Sookie sits up slightly and the camera makes a quick cut to Oliver. The camera quickly cuts back to Sookie and Igby, and Sookie's head is back on the pillow again (as in the first shot) and then she sits up again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Igby: Why couldn't she have been a fucking smoker.
Oliver: This has nothing to do with her being in such wonderful shape. The cause of our trouble was our inability to come up with a drug short of paint thinner, that would be at least somewhat novel to her system. She's built up a tolerance to everything.
Igby: A tolerance? She's taking her fucking afternoon nap.

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Connections

References The Graduate (1967)

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Soundtracks

"Don't Panic"
(1998)
Written by Guy Berryman (as G. Berryman), Jon Buckland (as J. Buckland), Will Champion (as W. Champion) and Chris Martin (as C. Martin)
Performed by Coldplay
Courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.
Under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

Sarcastic and vitriolic

I had to drive to effin Antwerp, Belgium to see this movie, because it was taken out of Dutch cinemas after running just for one week. And that is something that I don't understand, or maybe I do, because this is not the typical Hollywood feel-good movie. The story could have been based on a early nineties novel by Jay McInerney or Bret Easton Ellis, but it is an original screenplay by writer and director Burr Steers. The mood is very dark, the acting is top shelf and the oneliners are sharp as razorblades. Kieran Culkin and Ryan Philippe are perfectly (type)casted and the choice of music is plain wonderful. The scene where Igby runs off through Central Park accompanied by Coldplay's Don't Panic is close to perfection. I enjoyed this movie very much and I think it paints a very accurate picture of the lives of spoiled, rich kids. Go see it!