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[United States] story, shoot journal Official site [Singapore] (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

Rachel takes Igby's glass away after he spits back the sip he has just taken. In the next shot Igby is holding the glass, but the cigarette has gone.

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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

Spoofs Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Waynesboro"
(2000)
Written by Ramsay Midwood (as R. Midwood)
Performed by Ramsay Midwood
Farmwire Records

User Reviews

The dramatic Sleeper of the year- Grade: A

Igby Goes Down has remnants of Catcher in the Rye, but I don't think that it is precisely in relation to the novel. First off, while the main character Igby looks on the world with a spiteful, scathing perspective, there are character elements, with him and with the supporting cast, that don't match. Still, this is not a deterrent to the picture; Kieran Culkin gives a breakout/breakthrough performance as the troubled youth, who has problems with his boarding schools, and his parents (Bill Pullman and Susan Sarandon).

The film has an astute, sarcastic sense of humor that is so subtle that if it doesn't get you to always belly laugh it puts you in a little awe. Deep down it's a view on the rich, bleak, befuddled lifestyles of not just Igby but of others, and also a compelling character study that doesn't cheat from first frame to last. Writer/director Steers has created a provocative serio-comedy that gets a great boost from supporting roles from Sarandon (although she's played many mothers before), Pullman, Goldblum, Phillipe, and Claire Danes in a choice pick.