Details
Movie Description
Seventeen-year-old Igby Slocumb (Kieran Culkin) comes from a wealthy but dysfunctional family. His mother (Susan Sarandon) is a pill-popping lunatic, his brother (Ryan Phillipe) is a collegiate, money-obsessed snob, and his father (Bill Pullman) is a hospitalized schizophrenic. After Igby is expelled from boarding school, his mother sends him to a military academy where he is brutalized by the other kids. He escapes to the Hamptons, where he meets Sookie Sapperstein (Claire Danes), an enigmatic and artistic vegetarian on a break from Bennington College. Igby then goes to New York, where he holes up in the loft of the heroin-addicted mistress (Amanda Peet) of his reptilian godfather D.H. (Jeff Goldblum). He once again runs into Sookie, and the two begin an affair, which eventually falls apart as Igby realizes that he has never had anyone to trust, and he decides to try and change his life for the better.
Burr Steers' impressive debut is clearly inspired by THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, though his film takes more pains to graphically show the familial reasons for its young protagonist's instability. At times a black comedy and sometimes something darker, IGBY creates a world where everyone's warmth and humanity is inversely proportional to their wealth--and most of the characters have money to spare. Culkin deftly carries an altogether impressive cast filled with strong performances.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Single Side - Dual Layer
Additional Release Material:
Featurettes - 1. IN SEARCH OF IGBY
Audio Commentary - 1. Kieran Culkin - Star, Burr Stevens - Director
Deleted Scenes (With Commentary)
Text/Galleries:
Photo Gallery
Industry Reviews
"...Unusually well-grounded in terms of its offbeat characters and ironic situations....Its unconventional wanderings eventually bring it to a place of truth..."
Box Office - p.54 - Michael Tunison
"...[With] sharp writing, solid direction, and varied, vivid contributions from a cast that boasts Susan Sarandon, Ryan Phillipe, Jared Harris, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, [and] remarkable lead Kieran Culkin..."
Premiere - p.18 - Glenn Kenny
"...[A] remarkably assured directorial and screenwriting debut....It maintains a ruthless emotional honesty..."
New York Times - p.E10 - Stephen Holden
"...[A] poisonously funny and unstintingly furious gem....Heartfelt....The mixture of resignation, fury, and determination Culkin gives Igby is a formula all his own..."
Entertainment Weekly - p.71-2 - Lisa Schwarzbaum
"...Darkly hilarious, unexpectedly heartbreaking....IGBY GOES DOWN sustains a buoyant spirit....Steers is generous to all his characters, creating juicy roles that the cast bites with relish..."
Rolling Stone - p.111-2 - Peter Travers
"...IGBY GOES DOWN has considerable charms. The story runs along a similar trajectory to 'Catcher in the Rye'..."
Sight and Sound - p.47 - Leslie Felperin
"...Go with it and congratulate yourself on unearthing a surprise treat..."
Total Film - p.97 - Jamie Graham
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
All rights reserved.
