Igby Goes Down

Released 2002
Stars Kieran Culkin, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Claire Danes, Ryan Phillippe, Bill Pullman, Amanda Peet, Jared Harris
Directed by Burr Steers
Reviewed February 22, 2003

To say the Slocumbs are a dysfunctional family is as much of an understatement as saying George W. Bush has a grudge against Saddam Hussein. The two Slocumb boys, Igby (Kieran Culkin) and Oliver (Ryan Phillippe), are given all of the economic advantages in life but nothing else. Their mother Mimi (Susan Sarandon) is a hyper-critical, pill-popping, social climber with all the sardonic motherly warmth of Truman Capote. We suspect their father (Bill Pullman) is the warmth of the family, but that warmth would never extend as far as a simple hug. He does have kind words for the boys, though, before he becomes institutionalized due to schizophrenia. "Igby Goes Down" uses this familial setup to create a darkly funny coming-of-age story that has just enough heart for us to care while we're laughing.

The film opens on a humorous note with Mimi half-wheezing and half-snoring in bed while her two boys sit by her bedside. Soon we realize they're not just watching their mother--they're trying to kill her. The movie uses this introduction to the characters to make us think they're after her money, because there's no other reason they would be doing this in such a callous manner. It then flashes back to their childhood, and we start to see their parents in action. We realize Mimi is a stone-cold nightmare and their father has lost his mind, and I began to suspect they killed Mimi out of hatred. In the end we realize they do it out of begrudged compassion, but the movie isn't about this event. It's about Igby growing up.

Igby is a supreme slacker who reviles school and structure of any kind, and he's eager to smoke, drink or swallow any substance he can find. Yet, he has a certain sardonic charm as he struggles against society, and it's his motivation for this rebellion that makes the movie special. He's not just another rich kid from a cold family who cracks wise. He's a boy who has watched his well-respected father fall apart due to mental illness, and he's been exposed to some frightening scenes at a young age (e.g., the shower scene). Igby's a smart kid, and he realizes he may end up just like his father. So why should he be the model student and successful businessman only to end up a catatonic lump in a mental institution? His brother Ollie has the same chance of ending up like their father, but he chooses to either ignore it or accept it as a possibility. Igby accepts it as a foregone conclusion.

Igby is a maddening character, because he's so disrespectful to everyone. He has no hope for his future, so he disrespects everything and everyone in his life. This can make him insufferable, and sometimes you just want him to get smacked. The good news is others feel that way, and they act on it. How funny is it to watch a counseling session where a psychiatrist reaches out and slaps someone he believes just attempted suicide? Not once, but twice.

What helps elevate this comedy to greatness is its supporting cast of skewed characters. There's the slimy, hypocritical D. H. (Jeff Goldblum), and his protege Ollie, Sookie the disaffected New York Jewish American princess, and the artists who live the drugged out artist lifestyle but produce no art. All of the supporting characters are fun and bring a certain outrageousness to the story, but theirs is a world of irony. They're not madcap characters trying to make you laugh. They're characters who understand the absurdity of their lives and continually point it out. One such exchange is in the restaurant with Mimi, D. H, and the two boys. Igby spins a yarn about his buddy in military school accidentally shooting his own face off, and no one knows quite how to respond to the story. He may be lying as usual, but he may actually be telling the truth for once. In a rare moment of sincerity, D. H. tries to offer his Godson some comforting words, but Ollie is quick to shoot it down.

D. H.: I believe... that certain people in life are meant to fall by the wayside; to serve as warnings to the rest of us... Signposts along the way.
Igby: To where?
D. H: Success.
Oliver: Our father would be a "slippery when schizophrenic" sign, for instance... along the highway of life.

In the end, Igby learns the truth about his father, and it destroys everything he had believed in until that moment. The movie doesn't dwell on it, though. It's handled subtly with a nice scene where Igby visits his dad in the institution, before he moves on with his life. He moves on with new regrets but also new hope.

Reviewed by Bill Alward 
February 22, 2003
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