Masterpiece Cinema - Igby Goes Down

"Igby Goes Down"

Starring Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Amanda Peet,

Ryan Phillippe, Susan Sarandon and Bill Pullman.

Written & Directed by Burr Steers.

Genre: Drama / Comedy

Released: 2002

Running time: 97 mins.

Rated: R (American rating for language, sexuality and drug content).

IMDb link: http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0280760/

I get the feeling that Igby Goes Down isnt the kind of movie I should like. Theres this bizarre sub-genre going on both in film and in literature, which deals with whiney, spoilt, and quite often young people living affluent lives in New York. Books like Nick McDonells Twelve and Jay McInerneys Bright Lights, Big City and films like Cruel Intentions anduhBright Lights, Big Cityare good examples of this style. Im sure theres a name for it, but Im stumped as to what it is. A friend of mine refers to it as Hamptons literature, referring to the place where these people all seem to have holiday residences.

Personally, Ive never cared for the Hamptons genre. Its always perplexed me as to why exactly I should give a single crap about these people. They have every single opportunity in the world available to them, but I should still feel sorry for them? Not bloody likely.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. One such exception is Igby Goes Down. Its an almost perfect example of the Hamptons genre, but for some reason, it just works. I think that has a lot to do with the castbut well get to that later.

Igby Goes Down tells the story of Igby Slocumb, the youngest son of a Manhattan power couple whos been going off the rails ever since his dad had a mental breakdown. Hes been kicked out of just about every private school on the east coast, he habitually binges on drugs and alcohol, and his family has had just about enough of him. As his brother tells him, if Gandhi had to spend a prolonged amount of time with you, he'd end up beating the shit out of you, too.

But after a series of events that range from learning of his godfathers affair to meeting a nymphomaniacal, pseudo-Bohemian, Igby finds he needs to confront what it is that sent his life spiralling off in the direction that it has.

While researching for this articleif you can even call what I do researchI spent a little time reading some quotes from the film, and it really struck me; this movie is funny. It has a real wit to it that most works in this genre aim for but never really achieve. Screenwriter and director Burr Steer (who, incidentally, played the character referred to as Flock of Seagulls in Pulp Fiction) has imbued the script with a great level of intelligence and humour. Apparently, his original intention was to write the story as a book. But that would have run the risk of it becoming too laboured and heavy-handed. As it stands, it hits just the right tone.

Of course, with such a strong cast, the movie could be a recitation of the phone book and it would still come off half decent. And who knew that Kieran Culkin was such a good actor? This was the kid that spent Home Alone 1 & 2 terrifying his relatives with the threat of peeing his bed while he slept. But now hes talented enough to carry his own movie. And carry it he does, delivering such a strong performance that you cant really imagine anyone else in the roleeven if Culkin has a disturbing similarity to Edward Furlong. But thats just me going all tangential on you. Sorry.

I wont be so bold as to say that Igby Goes Down transcends the whole Hamptons genre, nor does it entirely escape the annoyances that are inherent to the style. But it comes damn close, with its dark wit, its intelligence, and its heart.

Next week: Honestly? No idea! But Ill have something, I promise!

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