Review of Igby Goes Down (2002) by Spencer S — 13 May 2013
An indie film from writer and director Burr Steers, this film follows the disenchanted life of a teenager in the world of the socially elite in his quest to remain untouched by his beginnings and venture into the underbelly of New York City.
Steers has said that he originally wanted to write this as a novel instead of a movie, and the prose-like quality of the story comes through very well. This film is most reminiscent in tone to the writings of Augusten Burroughs, thanks to the lead character's rebellion from his family, being young and yet casual about sex, and living in different places but not having a clear home.
His story starts with his father being diagnosed as schizophrenic, and his mother committing him to a home. Igby flunks out of prep schools, eventually landing himself in military school. He runs away to New York to meet up with an artist that his godfather is seeing behind his wife's back.
The artist in question (Peet) has many issues connected to her lover's animosity towards her, and this leads to her own breakdown, witnessed by Igby at several intervals. She also has a friend who is a cross-dressing performance artist, and Igby takes up with a former Columbia student turned waitress, forming a kind of oddly arranged family in the city.
His brother ultimately intervenes, and his mother, but Igby only flees them time and again, trying to run from his mother's bitter tirades, his brother's conservative and mature musings on his state, and his informal family crumbling before his eyes.
This hits particularly strongly when it comes to Igby shifting between places to sleep as everyone unwinds around him, making his life unstable and yet tentatively epic. This dysfunction is well captured in a very composed performance from Kieran Culkin, another indie rave performance from Amanda Peet, a very low key and yet memorable one from Ryan Philippe, and Claire Danes in yet another role as a disenchanted young woman with her own severe problems.
I guarantee that this film will make you swoon for the literary works of Kerouac, Burroughs, and Salinger.
This review of Igby Goes Down (2002) was written by Spencer S on 13 May 2013.
Igby Goes Down has generally received positive reviews.
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