| Igby Goes Down | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Burr Steers |
| Written by | Burr Steers |
| Produced by | David Rubin Lisa Tornell Trish Hofmann |
| Starring | Kieran Culkin Claire Danes Jeff Goldblum Amanda Peet Ryan Phillippe Bill Pullman Susan Sarandon |
| Cinematography | Wedigo von Schultzendorff |
| Edited by | William M. Anderson Robert Frazen Padraic McKinley |
| Music by | Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen |
Production companies | United Artists Atlantic Streamline |
| Distributed by | MGM Distribution Co. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $9 million[1] |
| Box office | $6.9 million[1] |
Igby Goes Down is a 2002 Americancomedy-drama film that follows the life of Igby Slocumb, a rebellious andsardonic teenager who attempts to break free of his familial ties and wealthy, overbearing mother. The film was written and directed byBurr Steers, and starsKieran Culkin,Claire Danes,Jeff Goldblum,Susan Sarandon,Amanda Peet,Ryan Phillippe,Bill Pullman andJared Harris. It was given alimited theatrical release throughUnited Artists on September 13, 2002, in the United States, and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Culkin and Sarandon receivedGolden Globe nominations for their performances.[2]
Jason "Igby" Slocumb Jr. is amisanthropic 17-year-old boy, rebelling against the oppressive world of his strict East Coast "old money" family. Igby fears that he will eventually suffer amental breakdown like hisschizophrenic father, Jason, who has been committed to an institution. His mother, Mimi, is self-absorbed and distant and tends todrink heavily. Igby mockingly describes his ambitious older brother Ollie as afascist or aYoung Republican who studies "neo-fascism" (economics) atColumbia 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 severalprep 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 stay with his godfather, successful real estate magnate D. H. Banes.
While working construction for D. H., Igby first encounters Rachel, his godfather'sEdie Sedgwick-influenced,heroin-addicted trophy mistress. Rather than return to school, he escapes into thebohemian underworld of Manhattan, hiding out with Rachel and herperformance artist friend Russel at her studio owned by D. H. Eventually, he and Rachel have sex. After being found at the studio by D. H. and getting beaten up by Rachel for jeopardizing her living arrangements, he 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 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 only he was mispronouncing it as "Igby". 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 frombreast cancer and so he returns to see her. She asks Igby to be present for her death. She has arranged to commitsuicide with help from Ollie, who feeds her drug-laden 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 hiscatatonic father Jason in the hospital before leaving forLos Angeles to finally make a clean break by getting 3,000 miles away from his family.
Igby Goes Down was filmed in locations throughoutNew York City, includingCentral Park,Washington Square Park, andSoHo. It is one of the last films to show the Twin Towers of the originalWorld Trade Center.[3]
| Igby Goes Down - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack | |
|---|---|
| Compilation album by Various | |
| Released | February 25, 2003 |
| Genre | Alternative rock,Indie rock |
| Label | Spun |
The soundtrack was released on February 25, 2003, by Spun Records.[4]
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Weight" | Travis | 5:11 |
| 2. | "Not You" | Underwater Circus | 4:00 |
| 3. | "Don't Panic" | Coldplay | 2:17 |
| 4. | "Everybody's Stalking" | Badly Drawn Boy | 3:39 |
| 5. | "Bohemian Like You" | The Dandy Warhols | 3:33 |
| 6. | "Anyway" | Jelly Planet | 4:13 |
| 7. | "Frozen Tears" | Somersault | 3:50 |
| 8. | "Youth Is Wasted on the Young" | Driftland | 3:54 |
| 9. | "Broken Up a Ding Dong" | The Beta Band | 4:46 |
| 10. | "Boys Better" | The Dandy Warhols | 4:32 |
| 11. | "Insanity Is Relative" (Suite) | Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen | 2:58 |
| 12. | "Love and Remembrance" (Suite) | Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen | 2:46 |
| 13. | "Igby Goes Down" (Main Title) | Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen | 3:55 |
Igby Goes Down received positive critical reaction, with a 76% "fresh" rating onRotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "In the vein ofThe Catcher in the Rye,Igby Goes Down is scathingly witty and sharply observant"[5] and a 72/100 onMetacritic.[6] Critics have compared aspects of the story toJ. D. Salinger's novelThe Catcher in the Rye.[7][8][9]
Film criticRoger Ebert gave the film a positive review and a grade of three and a half stars out of four.[9]Stephen Holden selected the film as aNew York Times “Critic’s Pick" and credited it with "ruthless emotional honesty", stating, "Not a false note is sounded."[8]
| International | |
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| National | |
