"Igby Goes Down" the impressive writing and directing debut of Burr Steers should bear the tag "Any resemblance to 'The Catcher in the Rye' is by no means coincidental." While parallels between the Salinger classic and Mr. Steers' story of Igby Slocumb's descent into the New York BoHo subculture are obvious, Mr. Steers has done nothing less than craft a Holden Caufield for a new generation. Equally as disaffected, angst-ridden and cynical as his predecessor, Igby is given an added handicap in the form of his pill-popping, self-obsessed mother, Mimi Slocumb (Susan Sarandon) and manic-depressive father (Bill Pullman). Confined to a mental institution and nearly comatose, Igby's father (Bill Pullman) might be Holden Caufield 25 years later.
The film follows Igby who, faced with living up to his older, over-achieving brother Oliver (Ryan Phillippe, finally using his lock-jaw to good effect), fails out of every school on the east coast and hides out in New York's SoHo as Mimi's attempts to get him on the straight and narrow only further his descent into the rabbit hole. There are many plot threads that wind and tie together but the film evolves so organically that they are best left as surprises. The finale of the film offers no solutions, as well it shouldn't, but also offers very little climax. The film doesn't end, it just sort of stops. It's troubling that, in the end, Mr. Steers, who has an obvious gift with words, has very little to say.
Along the way, though, Mr. Steers manages to elicit great performances from his entire cast. Most notably, of course, would be Igby himself, Kieran Culkin. The Culkins have become something of a Hollywood punchline: the pre-pubescent Baldwins. But the ground forged by Macaulay, lo those many years ago, has finally yielded some genuine acting fruits. Both Kieran and his younger brother Rory (shown as Igby in flashback) give the character a rich life. Igby is sarcastic, disrespectful and sometimes just plain mean, but he is human too. In certain scenes, he is hurt deeply and it shows in ways that are subtle and moving.
The Culkins are given a lot to work off of thanks to a fabulous supporting cast. Jeff Goldblum finally puts on his acting shoes again and creates a perfect cad in Igby's godfather D.H. Baines. Claire Danes is a wonderful and believable privileged suburban-bohemian. At last, Ms. Sarandon lets the gloves come off and bites into her role with scene-stealing relish and Mr. Pullman does a lot with a little screen time as her unfortunate husband. Only occasional missteps by Amanda Peet and Jared Harris, as New York stereotypes, stand out in the otherwise exceptional performances.
Mr. Steers sets his film in a refreshingly real New York City. Here he doesn't fall into the trap that Wes Anderson - the prodigal son of the quirky comedy - did in "The Royal Tenenbaums". While Igby's family is out there, they are not so over the top that we can't relate to them. This seems like a film Woody Allen could have made if he were more into drugs. Obviously filmed before 9/11, "Igby's" New York City has that carefree, innocent feeling that used to abound at the end of the last century. Now, the film has poignancy without losing any of its bite. This is a tribute to Mr. Steers' sharp writing and an indication that the film will most likely be remembered for a long time. As well it should be.
