Review of Igby Goes Down (2002) by Googolendtimes — 19 Feb 2015

"Igby Goes Down" is my personal favourite coming-of-age film. I also consider it one of the most underrated films of the 2000s. The story of a rebellious and privileged misfit from an upper-class family that is as dysfunctional as it is wealthy, it plays somewhat like a reinterpretation of "The Catcher in the Rye".

That is a comparison that has been made by several others, but it's an apt comparison nonetheless; director/writer Burr Steers understands Igby as well as J.D. Salinger understood Holden Caulfield. And as well as Salinger realised Holden on the page, the ideally-cast Kieran Culkin realises Igby just as well on-screen.

Igby is a kid who's grown up the straight man in a perniciously dysfunctional family that expects him to be perfect when they are anything but. He resents this, quite understandably, and this resentment manifests in a rebellious streak Culkin communicates with impeccably-timed and lacerating sarcasm.

And the resentment has fostered a palpable sense of loneliness, which is painfully evident at several points throughout the film and also conveyed beautifully by Culkin. Igby's monologue when a one-shot lover rejects him in favour of his brother is the best showcase for this.

This is not a one-note portrayal. Culkin has a lot of material to handle, requiring a range of emotions, and he pulls it off seamlessly. That he towers above a cast of acting heavyweights such as Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman is testament to what an astonishing achievement his performance in this film is.

The closing scenes, particularly a moment involving Igby and his father, is among the most moving finishes to a film I've ever beheld.