An involving surprise
I settled down to watch Igby expecting little more than a light hearted peek into the privileged life of the American upper class, sort of Cruel Intentions with a smile. But what a wonderful, slowly evolving, surprise this film proved to be. First time director/screen writer Burr Steers delivers a truly involving story revolving around the titular Igby as a deeply troubled, fiercely independent teenager without direction. While we follow his descent form preppy school boy to preppy drug dealer, we are treated to a slowly developing picture of his dysfunctional family. With Susan Sarandon giving, for my money, one of her best ever performances as the mother from hell and the wildly variable Jeff Goldblum coming up trumps as an a-moral god father it is pretty clear why Igby is “going down” in life.
While there are elements to dislike about this film, from the over privileged world whiney characters to the self-indulgent feel of the big name cast (see the “behind the scenes” footage to really see luvvies at work), it still manages to be a film you can enjoy and recommend to others. As Mark Kermode (all hail the mighty Kermode) put it “it's hard not to applaud any 'mainstream' movie that allows loveable Jeff Goldblum to beat up one of the Culkin kids onscreen!” |
